The Crystilyn Twist
by CrystalPrince8208
Summary: William Crystilyn is an Alliance Psychiatrist assigned to the Human colony of Horizon. Six months after he arrives he is joined by Kaidan Alenko. When everything falls can Will's unique skillset, guile, and mysterious powers lead the pair to salvation? Or will his secrets seal their fates. SLASH Will/Kaidan Slow burn. Very AU, don't expect the story to be the same as the game.
1. Arrival

Hello my Darlings. Feel free to skip this section if you want there won't be any important story details included here, just the ramblings of the author. I'm going into this project in a different way than I typically do. While I've never written fanfiction before, I have written more than a dozen short stories so I feel like I've got the chops to handle a project like this. Even so I'm not a master at writing and at the end of the day a side goal of mine is to become a better writer. To do this I really need feedback from my audience. I'm a huge fan of constructive criticism and I welcome any and all negative or positive reviews with open arms. That being said I dearly hope you enjoy this piece.

I do not claim ownership of any setting, characters, concepts, plotlines, and so on and so forth that are owned by bioware or any other company that had any degree of involvment in the creation of the Mass Effect Franchise. All Do own is the character William Crystilyn and a few other original characters that have yet to be introduced

The first thing I noticed when I walked into my office was the new stack of papers on my desk. I had given up on having any time for myself six months age when I'd first been stationed on the human colony Horizon.

I had been surprised at first when I was ordered by the Alliance to report to Horizon. I'd only been out of Med school for about a week when I was given the order. At the time I had expected to be stationed on a ship or something, not a permanent position at a non-Alliance colony.

The residents of Horizon weren't fond of me at first. Which I get, they had lost the last practising psychiatrist to old age, and they didn't want to accept an outsider like me. To them I was just some young hotshot trying to take the place of their friend. My biotics didn't do me any favors there either.

It took time, but eventually people started coming to my office and before I knew it I had been welcomed into the community.

Then the news about the other colonies came in.

We started getting reports of entire human colonies just disappearing, and of course people started getting scared.

After the first three colonies were hit my workload more than tripled. I was constantly helping people cope with the stress and fear being caused by whatever was happening to those colonies. Today was no different.

I ran a hand through my black hair. It felt longer than normal but I wasn't all that surprised by that. It was hard to find the time to get errands like haircuts done when it felt like I was single handedly keeping what felt like half of Horizon on its feet.

I took a seat in the office chair at my desk. I felt my weight sink into the comfortable seat. The chair had cost me a small fortune, but it was worth every cent. The rest of my office was well decorated with a number of knick-knacks that I'd picked up over my days in the Alliance. My Phd's in Human and Alien Psychiatric Medicine as well as my license to practice in an enclosed ship environment hung on the wall adjacent to the door.

I let out an airy yawn and checked the clock on the far wall. It was only 9:17am and I was already ready to crash. I felt a jolt of relief that I had refused to schedule any appointments today deciding that I needed a day to rest and catch up on paperwork that I hadn't had time to finish.

I spent the next three hour filling out various forms and other semi-important documents. Most people hate filling out paperwork, but I'd always found it relaxing. I'd filled most of them out so many times that I barely needed to pay attention to what I was doing.

After I finished the paperwork I grabbed one of the many Psychiatric medical journal I had been meaning to catch up on for about a month and settled into a comfortable position in my chair.

I didn't even get five pages in before a knock at my door broke my focus.

I sighed, disappointed that I'd have to postpone my reading yet another time this month and set the book down on my desk.

Another series of knocks pounded against the metal of the door. I bit back an aggravated barb, and waited a brief second to calm down.

"Just a minute! I locked it when I came in this morning!" I shouted towards the door. I raised my hand and snapped my fingers. A biotic field formed around my hand. With a flourish of my fingers in the direction of the door. I heard the click of the door unlocking and mentally congratulated myself. I'd been working on precision telekinesis for two months now and it was nice to see the benefits of my hard work.

The door swung open a few seconds later and an unfamiliar man crossed the threshold into my office.

He had dark eyes and hair, the latter cut short, with fair skin and a clean shaven face. He was wearing an Alliance Navy uniform with short sleeves, and combat boots. He was built like a fighter with lean muscle all along his arms.

His walk was steady and he strode from one foot to the other in smooth flowing motions that carried across his frame across my office swiftly and surely.

"Are you Doctor William Crystilyn? The Alliance Psychiatrist stationed at this Colony?" He asked politely in a tone much too formal for my tastes. His voice was deeper than I expected it to be.

"Yeah that's my name." I replied. "What can I do you for?" I really tried to be nice and pleasant to him, but even I could hear how tired I was.

"I'm Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko." He introduced himself. "I'm being stationed here under the orders of Admiral Hackett. I just wanted to introduce myself to all of the major players in Horizon."

I quirked my brow at Lt. Alenko's choice of words.

"Major players?" I remarked curiously gesturing towards the many places that I had set up in my office.

The lieutenant nodded gratefully and took a seat on the reclining chair just to the left of being in front of my desk.

"People on Horizon that the admiral thought were important." Lt. Alenko explained. "You actually weren't one of those people, but the mayor and everyone else I talked too thought I should talk to you anyway."

I hadn't known that the people here had such high opinions of me. It was touching that I'd grown on them so much.

"So you're a soldier right?" I asked him intrigued. The lieutenant nodded in confirmation. "So why were you stationed at an non-Alliance human colony on the edge of the Terminus Systems that would give the Alliance absolutely no easily discernible advantage military or otherwise?"

He winced at the question, a reaction that only served to make me all the more curious.

"Honestly?" He said not so much asking a question as asking permission to speak his mind. I gestured for him to go on.

"I have no clue." He admitted. "I was just told to shore up the colony's defenses because 'We have reason to believe that the colony will be threatened In the near future'" He said making finger quotes. "Which is bureaucratic bullshit for 'we have reasons but we don't want to tell you then!'" I laughed lightly at the amusing comment.

"Believe me I know the feeling." I replied sincerely. "Well for all that it matters I hope that you don't have too much trouble with the other colonists. They tend to be untrusting of newcomers." I couldn't help but recall my first few months at the colony and how diligent the colonists had been at generally just making life unpleasant.

"Yeah I was starting to get that impression." He said tossing a glance towards the door that he came In from. "Well I should probably get started on those defenses. It was a pleasure to meet you Doctor Crystilyn." The lieutenant got up from his seat and extended his hand for me to shake.

I smiled and took his hand In my own and shook it firmly.

"Please call me Will." I said standing up going over to get the door for him. As I neared the door I heard a buzzing sound and turned to search for the source of the sound.

"Then you can call me Kaidan." The soldier retorted heading towards the door before stopping dead while looking out of the large window beside the exit.

"You may want to take a look at this." Kaidan said in a clearly concerned voice.

"What Is it?" I asked while moving over to look out the window.

Though the clear glass of the window I saw a massive swarm of what looked like very large insects of some kind desend upon the colonists that happened to be outside at the time.

The insectoid creatures gathered around the colonists and everytime one of the things touched a colonist they almost immediately hit the ground. The bugs felled colonist after colonist continuously moving on to the next person until in less than twenty seconds I couldn't see even one single colonist left standing.

I turned towards Kaidan and we exchanged a worried look.

It was about than that I realized that maybe some of the patients that I told that they were worried over nothing just may have been more right than any of us could have possibly imagined.

So I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter of The Crystilyn Twist. Bonus points if you can guess why I picked that name instead of something more thematic. I'll say again that any and all reviews positive or negative are welcomed. You can expect the next update within the week most likely, and besides that I hope that all of you darlings have an incredible day.

PS: I won't be doing anything like asking for reviews in any following chapter so anyonds that gets annoyed at stuff like that don't worry I'm not going to be that person.


	2. Troube On The Near Horizon

Hello again my Darlings. I just have a few things to address before moving on to the chapter itself. First things first I am changing the timeline and a number of other things that may or may not become apparent as the story goes on.

Something I've been thinking about is the Mass Effect. Please note that I'm talking about the fictional scientific principle after which the franchise was named not about the franchise itself. I wanted to give a relatively brief explanation of what exactly the Mass Effect is since I will be playing with it in a number of ways that the franchise doesn't, and a lot of the things I'll be doing with it require a deeper understanding than the one that most fans have.

So the Mass Effect is basically a principle of physics that utilizes Element Zero to change the mass of an object without altering the base structure of the atoms that the said object is composed of. This is the reason that faster than light travel is possible without the complete and utter evisceration of everything involved in the process. By reducing the mass of a ship to negative mass you basically highjack physics In such a way that you allow it to travel much faster than it normally could without doing significant structural damage to the ship. What a biotic does is naturally generate mass effect fields that let them do the same thing on a much smaller scale. This allows them to manipulate things telekinetically, create solid barriers, or even effect something on the molecular (or possibly atomic) level.

With that out of the way I will get on with the story.

It was like nothing I'd ever seen before. As a part of my studies as a physician I had studied just about every kind of biological organism at least in passing, but these insectoid creatures were something I had never even heard of before.

I turned to face Kaidan and pointed toward a drawer of my desk.

"I keep a handgun In that drawer for emergencies." I said more calmly than I thought I would. I was putting the many techniques I had learned both in med school and during basic training with the Alliance to good use. It surprised me how effective they were.

Kaidan swiftly strode over to the desk and took the pistol from the drawer. He took a second to examine the weapon in his hand turning it over a few times. He held it out to me.

"I don't really need a gun so you should take it." Kaidan said In a voice that made it sound more like an order than a suggestion. I held my hands away from the firearm shaking my head in a clear no.

"That would be a very bad idea." I began in explanation. "Me and guns don't really go well together." The lieutenant frowned at the statement and insistently held the gun pit to me.

"I can't leave you without some way to defend yourself." He said firmly. I pushed the weapon back towards him.

"I'm perfectly capable of protecting myself without that." I insisted. I figured that actions spoke louder than words In matters like this so with a mental effort I wreathed myself In a glowing blue biotic aura.

Kaidan stood still for a few brief seconds just starting at deep blue field of energy that had taken shape around me. He locked eyes with mine for a brief second and nodded changing his grip on the pistol to one that would let him fire it properly. Than he barked a rapid series of what sounded to me like voice commands, and a holographic Omnitool blinked into existence around his left arm.

When I thought he was done I was caught off guard when a blue glow similar to the one surrounding me enveloped him. I probably would've said something witty as a retort only the atmosphere of the room was all wrong for it and that was mainly because of the lieutenant.

Kaidan was standing in such a way that radiated confidence in a way that I didn't often see. He scanned the courtyard outside of my office with a critical eye, I could practically see the gears turning in his head.

"Okay." He finally said after a fairly tense period of near absolute silence. "So the only threats to us that I can see are the bugs." He motioned towards the creatures as they buzzed through the air. "I'm thinking that they can probably be held more or less at bay with a spherical biotic shield. I think that between the two of us we should be able to keep one over pretty much constantly. Even so the bugs aren't what I'm worried about."

Kaidan pointed at the sky and I saw that there was a very strange looking ship hovering above the colony. I didn't know of any ships that looked like that.

"I'd be willing to bet money that these bugs are meant to disable the colonists so whatever is in that ship can take them." Kaidan continued. "And knowing my luck they're probably going to try and kill us."

"So what do we do?" I asked the lieutenant. I could hold my own in a fight if I _had_ too but it sure as hell isn't a something I liked to bank on.

"We should try to avoid a fight if we can." Kaidan answered to my relief. "I'd really rather not risk a fight if one of us has to keep a constant barrier around us. It would probably just get taken down during the fight anyway. Which leaves us playing this quiet which again would be tricky to do with a glowing bubble around us." He went silent. I assumed He was considering our options.

"We could stay here?" I suggested uneasily. The idea of staying put wasn't one that I was fond of. I hated it even. One of my biggest fears was of being helpless. That feeling of not being able to act, to do _something._ Just made me feel weak and pathetic In a way that I couldn't find the words to describe.

Kaidan scowled at the words as I spoke them.

"I don't like that." He said almost without emotion except for a hint of hesitation. "But it's probably for the best. I didn't want to say it but I really don't think we'd survive for long. Not unless you're a much more powerful biotic than I think you are." Kaidan looked at me after saying that as if expecting an answer.

I raised a flattened hand toward him and swivled it in a gesture that said ' _Kind of?'_

Kaidan looked surprised at that. I surmised that he hasn't been expecting that answer.

"Wait, really?" The lieutenant said with the verbal equivalent of a raised eyebrow, and maybe a literal one but he had turned away from me to look out the window.

"Yeah." I replied a bit uncomfortable. "I'm told that I've got a ton of untapped power. Although exactly how much is kind of up for debate." This time Kaidan turned around, his face alight with interest.

"How much power are we talking about here?" He asked curiously. I shrugged and looked a bit away.

"I can reliably apply about 2,000 newtons of force with my biotics." I had completely expected the reaction I got from the lieutenant.

Kaidan's jaw practically hit the floor upon hearing the number.

"Holy shit!" He exclaimed loudly. "I can only manage about 1,200 and I know for a damn fact that's more than enough to break bones. 2,000 would be enough to…" He trailed off.

"That would be enough to break someone." Kaidan finally finished.

There was a long awkward silence. I didn't break it, but I felt like the answer went unsaid.

A few minutes passed. The quiet began to feel oppressive. Fortunately, or unfortunately as the case may be, the gears of the door

began to turn.

Kaidan's head snapped toward the door and he thrusted the Omintool covered hand at it. He rambled off a series of commands and the sounds stopped. He turned back to me frantically.

"I didn't lock the door down I just disabled the opening mechanism." He explained quickly taking cover behind my desk. "If they want to get in I can damn near promise you they're getting in."

Oh look I wrote a cliffhanger what fun. I Promise you guys that things are going to get more exciting next chapter. I've even got a fight or two planned for those of you that are into that. Next chapter should be up sometime within the next week it'll probably be longer than the ones I've wrote so far because fights are best if they're long and and dramatic. Love yourselves and love each other.


	3. Unlikely Reunions

I usually have something to say here, but I don't today. So enjoy.

I flinched as a loud crash impacted the door.

It wasn't the first time I'd been in situations like this, but by God did I not like them.

I took cover with Kaidan behind my desk. The act was pretty futile since the hardwood desk would be ripped to shreds at the first sight of gunfire.

Another _thud_ impacted the door, but this time I could hear the metal hinges of the door rip and tear. It didn't come off of the hinges just yet.

There were no words to be spoken, so none were. The two of us just waited in a tense silence that persisted for just a touch too long. It started to eat away at me.

Then the door was ripped out of the doorway.

I reacted before I had a chance to think. I grabbed my desk in a biotic field and threw it into the doorway hearing the wood being crushed to splinters upon impact.

"What that fuck!" Yelled out a rough sounding but still clearly feminine voice from about where the desk had touched down.

A blue field of energy formed around the debris of the desk and the pieces were thrown to the side as if they were of no consequence.

While I had fought before I my life, I had mainly fought other biotics in particular. So our attacker being a biotic was actually more comforting it probably should have been.

The woman in the doorway was covered in a rippling aura of blue.

She started to say something else but I figured it wouldn't be a good idea to let her speak.

I whipped my arm forward and launched a half strength wave of biotic power at her. It caught her square In the chest and threw her out of the doorway. I heard a loud crack as I assume she hit the ground.

"Shit!" She shouted, and I was pretty sure that I had miscalculated how hard I had hit her.

It was about then that I remembered the threat of the bug creatures so I erected a biotic field over the door to keep them out. I breathed heavily, huffing and puffing like a fairytale wolf after exerting myself so much. I didn't fight often so it tended to slip my mind just how exhausting biotic combat can be.

The woman got up from where she had been thrown onto the ground and I finally got a good look at her.

Her head was bald, and her eyes looked dark. The most striking aspect of her appearance however was how she was dressed. Almost her entire upper body was bare except for two straps that crossed her torso strategically placed to cover her nipples if only barely.

A fair distance behind her stood a Turian in blue armor holding a sniper rifle with a holographic overlay just over his eye. His face was scarred by what looked like a paramilitary grade thermal explosive to my eye, based on the amount and state of the scar tissue I would feel pretty comfortable saying that it was a recent wound.

The Turian raised his hand to what looked to be a microphone at his neck and pressed something.

"Stand down!" He said through the loudspeaker. "We are here to bring colonists to extract civilians to a safe location while the Collector threat is dealt with." I let the words sit in my head for a minute before I nodded cautiously.

"Fine!" I yelled through the barrier. "But put away your weapons and step out of cover slowly!" I wasn't entirely sure whether I believed them or not, but I wasn't going to just reject the possibility of getting to a safer place than my small office just because I'm a touch too paranoid for my own good.

The Turian put his rifle into the holster on his back and the tattooed woman did the same, albeit with a scowl coloring her features. Then they both slowly made there way to the door and waited in front of the barrier.

While they made their approach I turned a bit towards Kaidan.

"What do you make of this?" I asked him hoping to rely on some kind of professional experience of his to help make my decision easier. The lieutenant watched the pair approach with a analytical look in his eye until suddenly a flash of recognition crossed his face.

"Garrus!?" Kaidan exclaimed loudly. The Turian looked past me in confusion fixing his gaze on Kaidan.

"Kaidan Alenko." He said a warm tone touching the words like a pleasant memory. "Well I'll be damned, you were the last person I expected to run into here." Kaidan stood up from his crouching position against the wall and took up a position in front of the barrier.

"It's okay Will, he's a friend." Kaidan told me. At the words I let down the barrier long enough for the pair to get inside before restoring it. Kaidan and the Turian clapped hands and shook firmly in greeting that I had seen between comrades in arms a time or two before.

The tattooed woman on the other hand walked right up to me and threw a fist right for my jaw. Fortunately for me years of practicing aikido had made the art a reflex. I sifted my weight away from the blow and grabbed her fist and pulled back on it too put tension on the tension connecting her wrist to her elbow locking that part of the limb in place. Than I simply pushed back on the locked arm and she stumbled back imbalanced by the unexpected maneuver.

Her scowl twisted to a look of absolute rage, and I expected her to rush me. But suddenly her expressing turned to a wicked grin and she held a hand out to me.

"I like you kid, you've got a hell of a pair of balls on you." She said with more passion than I had anticipated. I took the hand with caution and we shook firmly.

The Turian rolled his eyes at the sudden shift in the woman's behavior. Kaidan on the other hand looked from her, to me, and back to her with a baffled expression across his face.

"What the hell just happened?" asked Kaidan facing the Turian. The Turian shrugged taking it all in stride.

"Just trust me Kaidan, that was a good thing." He remarked cooly before extending a hand towards me in turn. I took the armored hand and shook vigorously only too aware that I had shook way too many hands for one day.

"Garrus Vakarian." He introduced calmly like we had just bumped into each other in front of a bar or something.

"William Crystilyn." I replied in kind returning the peasantry. The tattooed woman promptly introduced herself as 'Jack' not too long after.

"So Garrus." Kaidan said sounding like he was leading into asking a question. "What exactly are you doing here? You have to admit it does look kind of suspicious." Kaidan gestured to the courtyard outside the barrier.

Garrus had started to speak, but we heard a huge explosion go off outside of my office and I saw a barrage of artillery shells pelt the side of the strange ship in the sky.

Garrus and Jack grinned towards it and turned back to us.

"You're going to want to see the boss." They both said almost in unison.

Hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Next one should be up pretty soon, within a week as per usual.


	4. One Twist Among Many

We were led out of my office by Jack and Garrus. Kaidan kept to my side though which was much appreciated. I hadn't known him long, but he was still more familiar to me than the other two. Especially since Jack had tried to kill me.

It was almost surreal seeing almost no one outside at the colony. There was usually a fair number of people outside at all times for the most part. There were even a few people that were out and about at night on a regular basis. Right now though the colony felt like a ghost town.

I didn't know how Garrus and Jack knew Horizon so will, but still they led us through the maze of buildings until we started to approach a large empty courtyard where a ship was parked.

This ship, unlike the odd one in the sky before, was of a design style I recognized. It was definitely of human design, and unless I was sorely mistaken, it was state of the art construction. I didn't know most technology very well, but my mother was a starship buff so after a while I just developed an eye for that sort of thing.

In front of the ship stood two human women. Both were of average height. One wore armor while the other was wearing this skin-tight body suit that made me uncomfortable just looking at it. The woman wearing armor had darker red hair that cut off at about her chin. The other woman had black hair that looked like it reached just passed her shoulders. Even I could tell that both were absolutely gorgeous, neither was even close to being my 'type.'

Kaidan squinted at the armored woman, and practically gasped in recognition.

"Jane!?" He shouted his shock echoed in his voice. The armored woman turned as he yelled and she gave a similar expression in response.

"Kaidan!?" She shouted in turn and then rushed over to him. Garrus put a hand on my shoulder and steered me past them.

"They have a lot of history." Garrus explained quietly. "I'll introduce you to Miranda while they…. Catch up." I wasn't sure how I felt about the tone of his voice when he said that, but I compiled without complaint. He seemed to know both Kaidan and this 'Jane' better than I did so I was pretty okay with trusting his judgement.

He led me to the woman in the bodysuit. Her piercing grey eyes felt like they were staring through my soul. After a second of that she smiled warmly and held out her hand.

"Hello I'm Miranda it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance." She spoke with a distinct Australian accent, yet there was a slight difference to it that gave me the impression that she wasn't a native. I gave a nod to her, but I didn't take the hand. I was so sick of handshakes.

"Alliance Psychiatrist William Crystilyn. I'd normally take that hand happily, but I've shook a lot of hands today. I'm kind of sick of it to be perfectly honest." I explained with a short chuckle. The years of training my brother forced on me were starting to come to mind. That kind of unnerved me really, but I didn't have time to worry about it right now.

"It's alright." Miranda said still smiling. "You're the psychiatrist assigned to the colony right?" I got a good vibe from her. I liked that, but I was also very much aware of the fact that she was trying to charm me.

"Good guess." I replied making the choice to play into her game instead off resisting it. "I'm sorry if I hurt Jack, I kind of panicked when someone tried to take the door down considering the attack." I figured it couldn't hurt to apologize for the misstep. I was pretty sure that the honesty would only earn me points with her at the end of the day. She looked at Jack in surprise silently asking for confirmation. Jack snorted at her.

"Pretty boy here just got lucky." She explained pridefully. This time it was Garrus's turn to snort.

"Bullshit this kid kicked your ass." He corrected gleefully. "Miranda this kid is a damn powerful biotic, and I'm pretty sure he knows his way around a fist fight too." Miranda turned her gaze back at me, interest sparkling across her eyes. I looked away from her. I didn't brag about my abilities, and with good reason. If I absolutely had to fight I preferred it if people didn't know what I was capable of. If Grissom Academy taught me anything it taught me that.

"I'm impressed." Miranda said with the tone of her voice reflecting the statement. "I may not be Jack's number one fan, but even I admit that she's a force to be reckoned with. Did you poison her or…?" I decided that holding back wasn't going to get me anywhere. If my capabilities had to come out I could at least try to control the flow of information.

"I was trained as a biotic Adept by Grissom Academy when I was Sixteen." I elaborated firmly keeping my voice stern. "After that I completed Nemesis specialization training at eighteen and began Bastian training. I never completed Bastian training because I decided to go to med school instead." Now everyone looked impressed. I wasn't happy with having to reveal most of that, but I tried not to let it show.

"What about that weird shit you did to my hand?" Jack asked unconsciously flexing her hand.

"I've been a practitioner of Aikido for fifteen years." I said. "Holds like that are the meat of the art." I didn't like having so much attention on me; It made me feel like something was squirming under my skin.

"So what are all of you doing here?" I asked them in an attempt to change the subject. Fortunately no one present seemed to mind the attempt.

"That's kind of a long story." Garrus said reaching up to scratch the back of his head in an uncomfortable gesture.

"I assume you know about the missing colonies?" Miranda asked not so much looking for an answer as confirmation. I nodded in reply setting no real need to vocalize the response. "Well we're the people who are trying to stop it. We work for a privately funded paramilitary organization dedicated to protecting the well-being of the human race." She recited the description like an actor who was reading the line from a script. A skilled actor from an incredible script mind you, but a script nonetheless.

"Do you want to try that again? Maybe with less diplomatic bullshit this time." I hated political speaking. As far as I was concerned if you have something to say don't dance around it, but get to the damn point.

Both Garrus and Jack burst into laughter at the blunt comment. Miranda's reaction on the other hand was much more interesting. At first she looked taken aback, but a split second later she was grinning again.

"Alright then." Miranda said suddenly very reminiscent of a cat who was toying with its prey before devouring it whole. "Does the organization Cerberus sound familiar to you?"

I'd heard of Cerberus a few times through the Alliance, but I'd never really given them much thought. I knew they were an alleged terrorist group, but at the same time they hadn't ever done anything of note.

"Yes," I answered. "I've encountered the group in passing. I believe their file in the Alliance says something along the lines of. 'Human Supremacists Terrorist Organization' and than something about being well funded. If you're asking for my thoughts on them; then I really don't have any." That wasn't all I knew about Cerberus, but it was enough to show that I was somewhat aware of the group.

"Than I would be gravely disappointed if haven't pieced together that we work for-" A female voice from behind me cut Miranda off.

"I'm working with Cerberus _not_ for them Miranda," I turned around to see Kaidan and the red haired woman making their way towards our little congregation. "If I recall we've been over that several times now." She had a strong voice; like that of someone with a command position.

"My apologies Shepard," Miranda said in a blank tone. "It won't happen again." Shepard (Apparently) looked to me and gave me a concise nod of respect.

"Thanks for helping Kaidan out," she said. "I'm really sorry I couldn't save more of the colonists." Shepard had a very genuine vibe to her. She seemed like the kind of person that was hard to not like.

Her words bothered me though. I won't pretend to have liked them all, or even most of them for that matter, but on some level they were my responsibility. If they got hurt it was on me.

"I wish you could've saved more too," It felt intrinsically wrong that there were no tears welling up in my eyes or anything. "So I get the impression that you guys are the people that are trying to stop all of this?" Shepard and Miranda both nodded. "How can I help?"

The pair gave me wary looks, but it was Kaidan who spoke up first.

"Are you sure about this Will?" Kaidan asked. "However good their intentions may be that doesn't change that they're still a terrorist group. If you get caught you could be court martialed and charged with treason." I shrugged.

"I don't know about you Kaidan, but those people were my responsibility," I told the lieutenant. I could feel the fire in my voice as I talked. "I'll be damned if I'm going to let the Alliance tell me not to do anything about them." I turned to Shepard. "Where should I put my things." It wasn't a question.

Well that was a fun chapter to write. I'm trying something new writing-wise by hinting at parts of Will's background without actually explaining things until they come in conversation, so if you want to give me a hand tell me how I'm doing at keeping things cryptic. Review if you want criticism is always welcome.


	5. The Soldier's Destined Role

Hey before I get on with the show I just wanted to thank all of the people that have been sticking with the story. I like to say that I write for myself and not for viewers. But if I'm being honest I'm a performer at heart and to a performer their audience is everything. So please enjoy the piece, or complain vigorously if you don't.

For Will that was the moment where he decided the path of what could be the rest of his life. But for Kaidan… well one could say his decision had been made long before that, or at least he thought it had.

Shepard had been about to respond when time seemed to freeze around Kaidan. His first instinct upon seeing the world around him fall still and silent was one that the Alliance had drilled into him since the first day of training. Assess the situation and act decisively.

The first thing Kaidan noticed was that he could move, but the gun Will had given him was stuck to the holster. He hadn't even been fully aware of him trying to draw it. Instead of questioning that odd occurrence Kaidan went down the list of options he used when a gun wasn't available.

Only to discover that his Omnitool wasn't working either, but his biotics seemed just fine. Kaidan found the familiar presence of the biotic barrier around his comforting. It was a wall between him and what could hurt him on more levels than one.

"Is the shield really needed kiddo?" spoke in a semi-familiar masculine voice right in the lieutenants ear. Kaidan jumped back and outstretched his hand toward where the voice was even before actually getting a good look at him.

The man had white mid length hair that almost shined in the light. The iris of his eyes was the same shade as his hair, perfectly white and shimmering in the sunlight. His features were aligned in such a way that gave off the vibe of a trickster emphasized by the huge mischievous grin that led across his face. The man was hot as hell, but Kaidan couldn't quite pin down why.

"Well I never!" The man said feigning being offended. "Do they not teach manners in the Alliance? I could've sworn they at least mentioned it. Not that I would know, but nevertheless one does not so clearly threaten someone who is so clearly unarmed." The man gestured wildly as he spoke, and Kaidan found his eyes following the gestures more than the man himself. One of the last gestures indicated the man's waist which did in fact lack a weapon.

Kaidan eyed him suspiciously, but lowered his hand anyway. His barrier was still up, but the man didn't seem to care.

"There we go!" He exclaimed loudly in a tone that came off as extremely condescending. "Now I would be remiss if I did not introduce my magnificent self." The man made a low, flamboyant bow alight with elaborate circular motions of his hands that gave Kaidan the impression of someone that was used to a spotlight. "You my dear Sentinel, may call me N." Kaidan wasn't quite sure how to take the dramatic behavior of N. He was almost certain that N wasn't his real name. Kaidan couldn't help but find his dramatic behavior entertaining, but at the same time he could feel that something was off about the encounter.

"Kaid-," Kaidan began to introduce himself, but was swiftly cut off by the white haired man with a flourish of his hand.

"You, of course, are Staff Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko," N announced smoothly. "Yes I know who you are. How could I not? You are most intriguing of course, and with everything happening here? I could scarcely stay way." Kaidan was baffled by what he was hearing. Typically in situations like this he usually fell back on what Alliance protocol said to do, but there wasn't any protocol for a situation like this.

"What's going on?" Kaidan demanded with an edge to his voice. N's grin grew if that was possible.

"Why the prologue of course!" He cried out excitedly before an odd look crossed his exuberant expression. "Or is this the exposition? I can never remember." He mumbled under his breath.

"The what?" Kaidan asked no less confused by N's seemingly meaningless ramblings.

"The Prologue- Or exposition- the place where the story begins." He explained as if he was speaking to a child or an idiot. "And of a most intriguing story nonetheless. I just thought I would drop by and make sure the stage is set properly."

By this point Kaidan had absolutely no notion of what was going on. The world around him still hadn't moved or changed at all, which was probably the most confusing part of this bizarre conversation.

"You're talking like this is a play? Is that what this is to you?" Kaidan demanded hoping that he might get a comprehensible answer from him. N on the other hand simply put a disappointed hand on Kaidan's shoulder.

"Just a quick tip from a humble stagehand," N said in a stage whisper. "It's easier to get answers out of me if you try speaking my language." Kaidan was pretty sure he knew what that meant, but at this point he was willing to make a fool out of himself if it led to this making some sense.

"Fine then," Kaidan said as he mentally prepared himself. "How must the stage be set humble stagehand?" N clapped wildly become he composed himself.

"Why the Doctor and the Soldier must join the Warrior-Maid on her adventure!" N stated giving the closest thing to a clear answer that Kaidan thought he ever would. The trickiest part now was deciphering the words.

Kaidan was pretty sure that the Doctor was Will. The Soldier could be either himself, Garrus, or Shepard, but the Warrior-Maid was probably Shepard. The Soldier wasn't already a part of Shepard's adventure so Garrus was ruled out. Which left himself.

"Pray tell," Kaidan began starting to get a feel for speaking like this. "In what direction will the story-,"

"The plot dear Soldier, not the story,"

"Will the plot go if the Soldier declines the Warrior-Maid's call to adventure?" Kaidan was actually starting to have done fun speaking like this.

"Why the story of the Doctor and the Soldier will be quickly cut very... _short_." N replied.

Kaidan didn't like the emphasis he put on the word short.

"Cut short by what means humble stagehand? By the change of minds on the Doctor's part? Or by the Angel Of Death coming forth to take his due."

"The Angel dear Soldier, but the Angel." N said with a dramatic flourish of his arm towards Will. "The Doctor's only chance to survive the Adventure of the Warrior-Maid is if the Soldier properly plays his perplexing part."

At that N waved his hand in a gesture that looked like waving goodbye, and with his other hand snapped his fingers.

Time began again.


	6. Unexpected Revelations

Last chapter was a blast to write. I took a bit of a risk by featuring N but I'm hoping it paid off. The main reason I took that risk is because I needed to give Kaidan a reason to go with Will, and I felt that if he knew (or at least believed) that Will would die if he didn't go than Kaidan would never just leave him to die. On a separate note I'm really enjoying this project so thank you dearly for reading this piece. Enjoy the chapter.

There was an odd tingle along my spine. It was a familiar feeling, but one that I hadn't felt for months. It was gone before I could really think anymore on it.

"From what I've seen of you so far Doctor-." Shepard began, but I cut her off at the title.

"Please call me Will." I told Shepard hoping I wouldn't offend her by interrupting.

"Will than," She corrected herself. "I would gladly welcome you on my ship, but I have to ask. In what capacity would you be willing to help us?" There was a measure of hesitation in her voice even though herr body language implied confidence.

"Well for starters I'm a world class psychiatrist. I've studied under some of the greatest people in my chosen field," I shifted my posture remembering my brother's training. I was trying to convince Shepard that I was worth talking with her, so if needed to appear just as confident as she was. "Besides that I am still a MD, and in any kind of mission the Moore Doctors you have the better. I would also be willing to fight." I raised my hand and formed a mass effect field above my hand. "I can't shoot a gun, but I'm a pretty good biotic. I've also been practicing Aikido for fifteen years, so I can handle myself in hand-to-hand."

Shepard made a face I couldn't read. That bothered me. I usually could read people pretty well, it was one of the perks of my line of work. Shepard was a puzzle though. She seemed like a woman who only showed what they wanted you to see.

"If you take Will I'm coming with you." Kaidan said with an odd quality to his voice. Shepard looked surprised by that turn of events.

"You know I won't say no Kaidan," Shepard replied her voice softening when she spoke to him. "You can both consider yourselves members of The Normandy SR2." Kaidan smiled at the name. "But what about the Alliance?" I'd been thinking about that issue.

"I might have a solution for that problem," I announced starting to feel more in my element than before. "You see everything that happened here is what my profession calls 'Traumatic Event.' According to Alliance reassignment protocol Kaidan and I are going to be discharged due to what the Alliance calls 'Tragic or Traumatic Circumstance.' That automatically entitles both of us to a minimum 6 months of optional leave with the potential for longer." I turned to face Kaidan. " Just say the word and I'll put together the papers to make it official." Kaidan smiled and looked between Shepard and I.

"Yeah do it," Kaidan said pressing his thumbs to his temples and rubbing them in small circles. I figured he'd gotten a headache from stress or something along those lines. I reached into one of the bags that I keep clipped onto the belt loops of my slacks and pulled out a bottle of pills I liked to keep on hand. I grabbed two pills from the bottle and handed them to Kaidan.

"Prescription strength Acetaminophen," I told him holding the white pills out to him. "You look like you need it." Kaidan took the pills without saying a word and swallowed them try. I could tell he took a lot of pills that way. Most people looked somewhat uncomfortable doing that, but he looked fine.

"Thanks." Kaidan said, his voice a bit stained. Shepard looked between us and gestured at the ship the she had called the Normandy SR2.

"We're pretty much ready to head out," Shepard said while Jack, Garrus, and Miranda headed towards the ship. "Grab anything you need and meet us on the ship whenever you're ready." At that she turned on her heel and walked onto the ship.

"I just have to grab something from my office, are you going to need any help?" I asked Kaidan when the others were out of sight. He shook his head and turned to face me.

"Not really," Kaidan said. " I tend to travel light. I didn't even set up my things before everything went down so I'm good to go." He looked to the ship and breathed in deeply. "I should've known I'd get wrapped up I something like this again." I was tempted to ask what he meant, but the look in his eye warned me off.

Instead I walked back to my office to grab my things.

(Line Break)

The Normandy was different than most of the ships I'd been in before. Most Alliance Vessels were very utilitarian in design, with comfort and appearance being a secondary concern. The Normandy however looked like no expense was spared in its design. The seats were leather and well maintained, and the air was pleasantly warm. The Bridge was a sight to behold with consuls surrounding the galaxy map like the portrait of a painting.

Shepard was waiting for us by the elevator. She'd changed out of the armor into jeans and a leather jacket with an N7 insignia over her heart.

"It's good to have you on board Will," She said wearing a smile that looked genuine. "I assume Miranda already briefed you on the dangers of our mission?"

Miranda had pulled me aside as I came on board and given me the quick and dirty version. The part that stuck most in my mind was that she had called this a suicide mission. What was even more shocking was how okay I was with that. I'd never really given it much thought, but in that moment I was totally sure that I wanted to die helping people. The realization brought a few other questions about my mental health to mind, but I figured I'd take note of them and deal with those problems later.

"Yes she did," I replied returning the smile with one of my own.

"Good, that means I don't have to do it," Shepard said seeming pleased with the situation. "I put you in room 216 on the Crew Deck. You'll be bunking with Kaidan I assume that won't be an issue?"

"No not at all, just give me a chance to get settled and we can discuss any responsibilities I'll have on the ship." I told the Commander. I didn't think she was the type to put someone to work before they got settled in.

"Of course," She confirmed. She reached into her pocket and handed me a standard keycard. I took it in between my thumb and index finger and inspected the card briefly. I had expected it to be plastic, but instead I felt warm metal between my fingers. I slipped the card into my jacket pocket and nodded in appreciation. I started to head to the elevator when a firm hand on my shoulder stopped me.

"Could you do me a favour?" Shepard asked. Her grip on me was stronger than I thought it would be.

"Sure Ma'am what can I do for you?" Shepard looked away briefly before answering. I recognized the action as a typical response to worry or guilt and my attention focused on her.

"Could you talk to Kaidan? He seemed a bit off when I gave him his key. I just want to make sure he's okay." Her voice was steady but her concern was clear.

"Yeah sure I'll talk to him." I found it a bit odd that she was asking me to talk to him. Shepard struck me as a DIY kind of woman, and Garrus had said they had history. I wasn't sure what to make of her turning to someone else to check up on him.

I filed it away under the ever growing list of things to keep an eye on. I had only seen a few of the crew and already I was getting the feeling that I would have my hands full with this bunch.

I used the keycard to open the elevator and descended to the Crew Deck. The elevator ride was very smooth, almost to the point that I hadn't been entirely sure we had began to move. The door opened a few seconds later and I followed the signs to room 216.

The number of residential space was surprising for a ship of this size. It was by no means massive, but it was certainly larger than normal. I quickly found my room and let myself inside. The room was larger than I had expected, but it was swiftly becoming apparent that there was a lot that was surprising about the Normandy.

It was about the size of a a standard hotel room. On one wall there was a single set of bunk beds both of which looked much more comfortable than I had expected. In the middle of the room was a small table, not big enough to eat off of but large enough for a game of cards. Along one of the other walls there was a pair of desks, both equipped with a single filing cabinet and four good sized drawers. Under the beds there were two fairly large drawers, for clothes I assumed. The room was also furnished with a number of decor appropriate chairs and a single reasonably lashed sofa.

Kaidan was putting clothes in one of the drawers under the bottom bunk. From what I could see most of the garments were an assortment of both street clothes and Alliance uniforms. I set the one large bag I had down by one of the desks and approached him.

There was something off about Kaidan's body language. From what I had seen of him in the short time I'd known him he typical kept himself standing pretty sturdy, his feet were spaced apart enough that he could shift his balance quickly and with a moments notice. Only now he was twitchy. The way he held the clothes was just a touch too forceful and he kept changing his footing. I was pretty certain something was bothering him.

I stood just a bit behind him and tapped on his shoulder.

"Are you alright?" I asked him carefully moderating my voice so I wouldn't sound at all aggressive or threatening. I knew from experience with patients that when you dealt with someone who was spooked you should be as cautious and nonthreatening as possible.

Kaidan's head snapped up to me fast enough that it probably gave him whiplash. I hadn't even considered that he wouldn't notice me coming in. He tried to scramble to his feet, but about half way up be tripped over his own feet and fell forward.

Mostly on reflex I reached down I grabbed the back of Kaidan's shirt. He hadn't changed out of the Alliance uniform he'd been wearing when we'd meet. Luckily the material of the shirt was pretty strong and it didn't tear when I grabbed it hoisting Kaidan up by his back stopping his fall about four inches before he hit the floor.

We stood there for a few seconds as the effects of the adrenaline faded from my system. Once the high was gone I lifted Kaidan up from his place just above the ground and helped him to his feet. Once he was upright and steady on his feet I looked him clear in eye.

"Okay that's it take a seat," I ordered the Lieutenant gesturing towards the couch. "We're going to talk about what's going on with you." I was using my 'Doctor' voice as some of the colonists had called it. Kaidan immediately marched over to the couch and sat down ramrod straight. I felt a bit bad for using that voice on him, but it was for his own good. I took a seat on the cushion beside him and leaned back relaxing.

"So what happened?" I asked him, a real question now not an order. Kaidan looked at me and than glanced away focused his gaze on the wall.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." Kaidan mumbled under his breath.

I would be lying if I said that didn't peak my interest. I stretched my arms and legs practically moaned as all of the muscles that I had stained over the course of the day finally relaxed.

"Try me," I told him. "I've seen a few things that most people wouldn't believe if it bit them on the nose and hung there till May." He laughed at the joke which made me smile. Kaidan's laugh was deep and it left a good feeling in my chest afterward.

"Fine," He said turning to me, now with a smile decorating his features. "It's hard to explain it." Kaidan paused for a second. "It happened just after you asked Jane where to put your things." I noticed that he called Shepard by her first name, but I didn't interrupt him. "Everything just stopped suddenly. My gun was stuck in its holster, and my Omnitool would comes online. My biotic worked fine though so I put a barrier on myself." I froze for just a second when Kaidan said that time stopped. "Then I heard this voice that didn't sound familiar spoke right in my ear. I backed up and there was this man standing there with-"

"Let me guess," I interjected, I was pretty sure I knew what was going on. " He had mid length white hair and eyes to match?" When Kaidan nodded in confirmation I went on. " I bet he had this wide extravagant grin too, and would only speak in fanciful phrases that sounded like they came straight out of poem." Kaidan looked increasingly startled with each sentence I uttered.

"You know him!?" Kaidan damn near shouted in my face, more out of surprise than anything else.

"Yeah you could say that." I put my head in my hand and opened one eye to sneak a glance at Kaidan.

Kaidan looked somewhere between confused, relieved, and shocked. His mouth gasped open silently like he couldn't find the words to speak. I lifted my head up and turned back to him.

"His name is Nathan, though he almost always goes by either, N or some other colorful title. The one he used last time I saw him was 'The Humble Stagehand'." I presumed that was the one he'd given Kaidan if the look on his face was any indication.

"So who is he?" Kaidan finally asked. His curiosity written all over his face.

"He's my brother."


	7. Explaination and Rumination

I hope last chapter's 'Unexpected Revelation' wasn't to jarring for you all. The original plan was to wait and reveal N's identity much later but then I got an idea that quite frankly works better. Hope you enjoy.

Kaidan looked blankly at me for just a minute before he lifted his hands to his head and rubbed soothing circles on his temples.

"Great," Kaidan said. "So I wasn't imagining it." her shook his head still gripping it in his hands. "Has he always been like that?" I nodded solemnly.

"To a point yes," I replied. "It wasn't always as bad as it was the last time I saw him, but a fair few of his quirks have always been there." I tried not to think about Nathan too much. It had a way of giving me a headache. "For example he hates using people's real names, it's too boring apparently, so he makes up nicknames like N, The Adept, or The Doctor. He's been doing that since he was seven."

The memories were pleasant in their own special way. I didn't think about my past very often, so nostalgia was a fairly foreign experience to me.

For an instant I allowed myself to be swept up in the current. Memories of childhood adventures floated to the forefront of my mind. Flashes of an easier time when Nathan wasn't nearly so difficult to deal with or understand.

"What about the hair and eyes?" Kaidan asked. "They didn't look synthetic." It was very strange to have someone asking questions about Nathan. Most people either barely knew he existed, or didn't know about him at all. Even the ones who did rarely asked questions.

"That's natural, or at least I think it is. His hair used to the same black as mine, and his eyes were blue in kind. We're twins you see, besides the hair and eyes we're mostly identical even. We were fourteen or fifteen when his hair started growing in white and his irises turned silver. He never told me why."

"And the stopping time thing?"

"Started at about the same time. I asked him about it once. He told me, and I quote, 'Learned it from a tome of tricks long forgotten.' He rarely told me more. All I know is that it isn't a biotic technique of some bizzare nature, and that he calls it a Spell." I shrugged at Kaidan as I said that last word. It sounded like nonsense and I knew it.

"Do you believe him?" The inquiry startled me a bit. No one had ever asked me that before.

"I think I do," I watched Kaidan's facial features carefully searching for some sign to give me a clue about what he was thinking. I didn't find one. "There really isn't any other reasonable explanation. Time just can't be stopped like that." I paused to consider whether to say anything else. "He does other stuff too. More confusing stuff, like appearing out of nowhere without explanation, or lighting a fire by snapping his fingers. Magic is the only thing that makes sense."

Kaidan looked like he wasn't sure what to do with that information. A silence hung over us for just a hair too long to remain comfortable.

"You should knows that I believe you," Kaidan began. "I agree that the term magic is applicable, but I don't believe that it's nearly so clean an answer." I released a breath I hadn't known I'd been holding. "He said you'd die if I didn't come on 'The Adventure Of The Warrior-Maid' as he called it. Could he have been lying?" I didn't think for even a moment before responding.

"I doubt it," My voice was deadly serious. "Nathan doesn't lie, or at least not directly. He may tell a half truth, or not tell you something, but he has never outright spoken a falsehood. He can't, I've seen him try, the words just won't come. He told me once it was one of the reasons he chooses to speak the way he does. It makes it harder to figure out what he really means. I have a hard time with it too." Kaidan was obviously listening intently. "He also tends to know about things like that, the future I mean. Usually not very much, but enough that he'll drop in and give me some advice now and then."

"Sounds useful," Kaidan commented, "And risky." He gave me a curious look after he said that. "What about promises? Breaking a promise is kind of like a retroactive lie isn't it?" I hadn't expected that level of insight from Kaidan. Not to say that I thought he was an idiot, but it was rare for people to pick up on that detail.

"I've never known him to break his given word." I considered following that statement with something, but I felt it had the desired effect.

"Thank you Will," Kaidan said. "It means a lot to know I'm not crazy." I detected a lot of subtext in those words, but I couldn't quite pick up on the hidden meaning.

I'd been about to respond when a giggle to the right of me put me on guard. One of the other things I shared with Nathan was a large part of his skill set.

Nathan is a master at manipulating people. He always has been. When we were teenagers he gave me a lessons on reading people and using what I learned to manipulate them. It ended up being an invaluable skill in my line of work so I kept it up. A part of those lessons was controlling how you reacted to something. While instinct told me to react to the presence of an intruder, reflexes drilled into me by Nathan both told me not to show my hand so quickly, and gave me the tools I needed to follow that advice.

I knew from experience that I hadn't even slightly reacted to that giggle. I knew from the tone that the voice was female so it couldn't have been Nathan.

I'd heard some rumors of biotics who'd learned to alter the mass of themselves and the light around them so that they could be practically invisible, but that seemed unlikely. The Element Zero nodules embedded in my nervous system that enabled me to use biotics in the first place would probably react to any Mass Effect fields that were either powerful enough to generate an effect like that, or that were so close to me.

That only left the possibility of technological measures. I don't really know all that much about high technology that doesn't have to do with space crafts, but I had heard of specialized shielding technology that affected light in a person's general area.

But as far as countering it went I really only had one option. Biotics. Most people who had biotic abilities were taught to control them by using physical mnemonics, or certain patterns of physical activity that trigger a certain reaction of the Mass Effect nodules in their body to perform a specific biotic action. Grissom Academy had taught me differently.

My biotics have always been uniquely powerful. The problem was that I have a serious lack of control. My biotics tend to get away from me, and I can't always shut them down. As an experimental method of trying to teach me more control my instructors had taught me to use mental mnemonics instead of physical ones. This meant that instead of using a series of physical movements to trigger my biotics, I use certain patterns of mental or emotional stimulus to use my biotics. Things like I think of memory A and I use my biotics one way, whole memory B makes me use them another way. It isn't nearly so clean cut as that, but you get the gist. It didn't actual help much with my control, but it did train me to use my biotics without moving as well as much more quickly than normally since mental activity happens so much faster than physical responses. Both were advantages that I had found invaluable.

Without moving I formed a kinetic bubble around us and turned to face the room. I created another one around the door to lock it down.

"I'm going to give you to the count of ten to show yourself before I start trying to find you." My voice was cold and without compassion.

The air in front of me rippled and flickered until a short woman wearing dark clothes and a hood concealing a large portion of her features appeared in front of me.

"Alright alright don't get your trousers in a twist," She said in a voice that sounded like it was eastern in origin. "I am Kasumi Goto, you haven't heard of me, and you are Doctor William Crystilyn and Staff Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko." Her expressions and body language were extravagant in a way that reminded me of Nathan.

"And you're in our room because?" Kaidan asked letting the question hang in the air for a while. Kasumi's head perked up as if she had been reminded of something.

"Oh yeah!" She exclaimed. "Shepard told me to tell you that we're approaching Illium, and that she wants you two to accompany her."

(Line Break)

Hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I liked the chance to round out Will's character a bit more. Enjoy your day dearies.


	8. Collette's Custom Creations

Illium was gorgeous. The entire space port had this crisp and clean look that reminded me of my old apartment on the Citadel. The modern decor of the space port was only made more stunning by the sheer variety of aliens that were all over the place.

I was surprised when Shepard told us to wear or armor when Kaidan and I were gearing up to leave. Kaidan took the news in stride so I guessed that it was standard procedure for Shepard.

Which of course brought up the issue of me not owning any armor.

When I told her Shepard just waved it off and handed me a credit chit and told me to find something I liked.

Which is how I ended up in the Illium market wandering around with no clue what I was looking for.

Shepard took off almost as soon as we got into the market to talk to some Asari who payed our docking fees. She had an uncharacteristic spring in her step when she ran ahead.

"You have no idea what you're doing do you?"

I jumped at the unexpected voice I almost fell over entirely when someone grabbed my side to steady me. Kaidan looked at me with his lips curled up in a smirk. I glared at him and he let go of me.

"This isn't exactly something I've done before." I said sheepishly. I turned away from Kaidan so he wouldn't see the light blush that I knew was there.

"Then I'll help," He replied easily. "Jane would kill me if you got something that wasn't decent." I chuckled at the joke under my breath. Kaidan grinned at me looking satisfied. "Come on I think I saw a pretty decent looking place back there." He pointed out a store that had a sign decorated with little symbols that vaguely resembled armor with the name _Collette's Custom Creations_ in the center.

The inside of _Collette's Custom Creations_ was very clean. Shelves of white armors of more than a dozen different types were laid out everywhere.

"Welcome to Collette's Custom Creations! Please wait until an employee is free to assist you. In the meantime please feel free to browse."

I glanced at Kaidan giving him a quizzical look. He was smiling and looking around the store looking rather amused at the decor.

The entire inside of the shop was decorated with a rainbow of various painting, sculptures, and various other eclectic pieces. From the back room a small skinny human woman with long curly blonde hair wearing a uniform that looked like someone had tie-dyed the poor thing way too many times.

"Good afternoon," She said with a wide smile stretching from ear to ear. "What are you two fine gentlemen looking for today."

I liked her. There was something about the way she presented herself that made me feel at home.

"This guy needs a set of armor." Kaidan said reaching over and patting me on the shoulder.

The woman's bright green eyes swiveled over to me. There was this jade fire burning in her irises that brought back memories of my mother standing next to me laughing.

"Then you my dears are in luck!" She exclaimed indicating a sign on the counter with a flourish of her hand. "Every piece made here at Collette's Custom Creations is specially made to the exact specifications of our customers." The sign she had indicated said as much. "So what kind of armor are you looking for exactly?"

I looked blankly at the woman who brought up something on her Omnitool and was waiting for me to answer the question.

"I really don't know," I answered feeling my blush return. "I don't usually wear armor." The woman listened attentively to me and smiled.

"That's perfectly fine dear," She reassured me. "We work with new customers all the time." She held her hand out to me. "I'm Colette it's a pleasure to meet you." I took her hand and shook it.

"I'm Will, and this is Kaidan. The pleasure is all mine," I replied warmly. "You're named after the store?" I saw my mistake as the words came out of my mouth, but Collette answered before I could correct myself.

"It's more the other way around," She said. "I'm the owner. Now just come on back, we have armor to design!" Collette grabbed my wrist and pulled me through the door labeled 'Employees only', but underneath the crisp letters 'Or anyone Collette says can come back here because dammit I'm the owner!' was written in flowing handwriting with a permanent marker.

Beyond the door was a large room filled with machines that I couldn't even begin to guess at their purpose. Collette released my wrist and spun around to gesture at the room excitedly. "This is my workshop." She said with enthusiasm. "I design every piece of armor that leaves my shop here."

Collette raised her Omnitool covered arm and swiped her hand towards one of the machines. The various devices in the room all turned on as she gestured at them one by one. It was almost like a dance of sorts, and if the easy grace of her movements was any indication it was one that she had mastered a long, long time ago.

"Wow," I said in awe as lights of almost every color flooded the room. "This is incredible." Collette beamed at me.

"Some of these things costed a small fortune," She said. "The rest costed a rather large fortune. I'll probably never pay off the loans." Collette's typically cheery voice took on a sad tone.

The sentiment rang through me in a way that made my heart bleed. I hated seeing good people in bad situations. I'd heard stories about the loan sharks on Illium. Needless to say they weren't pretty.

"How much are you in debt?"

Collette turned to face me a sad smile gracing her lips.

"Twenty five billion credits." I grimaced at the number and sighed.

"I think I can help you out," I said pulling out a white credit chit out of my pocket. I looked it over for a few seconds and held it out too her. "My parents died about ten years ago, and they left everything they had to me." I paused briefly overcome by memories that I hadn't thought about in years. "My parents were very rich people, and my inheritance was substantial. I used some of it to pay for college, but I haven't touched the rest. I promised myself I would use it to do something good, and this feels right." It was very strange to hand the chit over, but Colette took it from me with tears beginning to well up in her eyes. "It should be more than enough to not only pay off the debt, but to pay for top notch upgrades for this workshop."

Collette pocketed the chit and just looked at me for a second. A single tear trailed down her face before she regained her composure.

"You get free armor for life," Collette said sternly more of a command than an offer. "Free armor and, weapons, and anything else I will ever sell."

"Don't have to do that really-"

"This is my store," She said cutting me off. "I will be the one who decides who does or does not get free merchandise, and I'm telling you, telling NOT asking, that anything you get from me is on the house." I knew better than to argue with a woman who'd made up their mind.

"Okay then." I relented. Collette grinned and gestured over to her workshop.

"Then how's about I get you set up with some of the best gear credits can buy."

Sorry this chapter took so long I hit a bit of a snag with how I wanted to do this. I haven't decided what Will's armor will look like so if any of you want to make a suggestion I'll credit you in the author's notes of the chapter that your design first appears in. You can either leave a review or PM me with your ideas, but be warned if I don't get anything before the next chapter is posted it will probably be too late.


	9. A Good Plan

Collette is a genius.

I felt bad that I hadn't had much faith in her, but over the two hours spent designing and creating my armor and weapons the tiny blonde proved me completely wrong.

As it turns out Collette studied arms design at the Salarian Military Academy of Combative Sciences, the most prestigious school for arms design in the galaxy. She also had contacts in some of the most influential mining companies in the business, and they made sure that she got first pick of their best merchandise, and at wholesale prices nonetheless!

After about ten minutes of debate we settled on a light armor base since I could reinforce it with a barrier if I needed to so the extra mobility would be more useful. It was an almost skin tight bodysuit made from a rare silvery metal that can only be found on three planets called lanthium that remains in a liquid state until a high velocity object impacts it causing it to harden to the strength of steel. In its liquid state the metal is held in place by some kind of chemical progress that Collette tried to explain to me, but it went way over my head.

Nearly microscopic currents of element zero were woven throughout the entire suit which when charged, either by the electrical reserves in the suit or by the very presence of my own biotic aura, generated a natural barrier without any effort on my part. The Ezo currents also served to make additional barriers I put on myself more potent by amplifying the mass effect field in a way that is similar to a biotic amp. They even amplify any point-blank biotic attack I use as long as the charge holds.

The suit was beautiful too. The liquid Lanthium was as white as snow, and the way that the fluid coursed across the surface of the armor was almost hypnotic. It was like wearing a waterbed, but it wasn't uncomfortable. Actually unlike most armorers I'd met Collette put just as much attention to comfort and aesthetics, as she put into efficiency and security. The suit felt like a gel had been spread all over my body, but I was completely dry! It was always cool and I could manipulate the various other 'tricks' the suit had up its sleeves with either my Omnitool, a voice command, or by pushing on the right places in a certain way.

As for weapons Collette had been caught off guard when I had told her I didn't use guns. To her credit though it didn't faze her that much. Instead she ran with that limitation and came up with some damn impressive gear if I do say so myself.

She'd made me a set of ten knives. Like the armor the knives were laced with Ezo currents that apparently allowed them to hold together any mass effect field put over them so I could do something like charge a knife with a mass increasing field and than throw it at someone and have it hit like a bullet.

Collette also insisted on giving me on handgun of her own design. As a 'Just in case measure' as she put it.

I strolled out into the shop proper after only two hours of Collette working. Kaidan's eyes immediately glided over the suit and he whistled.

"Looking good Doctor," He said clapping as if I was a model in a fashion show. "Nice work Ma'am this looks incredible." Collette flipped her hair with a deft motion of her head and smirked at him.

"Of course it does," She said with more than a touch of arrogance in her voice. "I made it didn't I?"

I broke out in laughter at the comment. Kaidan just chuckled and looked back at me, a light blush creeping across his cheeks.

"I guess I asked for that didn't I?" He said.

"Damn right you did," I replied still laughing a bit. "Thank you Collette, really, this is amazing." Collette dismissed the thanks with a wave of her hand.

"Nonsense," She responded. "Without your help I would still be billions of credits in debt. It really was the least I could do." Kaidan's eyes shot up at that, his blush good.

"What?" He said simply confusion ringing through the word.

"I'll tell you later," I told the brunette. "Where do we meet up with Shepard?" Kaidan studied me for a few long seconds before seeming sated.

"Jane told us to get back to her at the dock the Normandy is at." Kaidan replied helpfully before he turned to address Collette. "It was a pleasure to meet you Ma'am." Collette smiled warmly.

"The pleasure was all mine," She said glancing back at me, or maybe my armor, for a split second. "Yeah definitely all mine." I winked at her while Kaidan just raised a single eyebrow at the cryptic comment. I waved goodbye and followed Kaidan back to the dock.

(Line Break)

Shepard was already at the dock waiting for our arrival. She was wearing her normal N7 armor with her dark red hair in a point tail.

It looked like she'd been there for a while if the Sudoku book in her hand was any indicator.

"Well it's about time-" She looked up and stopped mid sentence when she got a look at my armor. "Damn Crystilyn I said get armor not a work of art." Shepard said playfully and narrowed her eyes at the suit. "Wait is that Lanthium?" She sounded absolutely amazed at the possibility.

I nodded my head and just grinned.

"I got lucky."

Shepard tilted her head for a second like she was considering something.

"Well alright then," She said turning to address the both of us. "Liara was able to give me pretty solid leads on both of the people we're after. I took the liberty of checking out both of them while you two were out." Shepard pulled up a map on her Omnitool and circled two places. "These are the Dantius towers." She zoomed in on one of the circled points. "The assassin Thane Krios had taken out a contract on the owner, a woman named Nassana Dantius. Kaidan you should recognize that name she tried to kill us while we were hunting Saren." Kaidan rolled his eyes, but his was smiling ever so slightly.

"Yeah I remember," He said. "How did I manage to keep track of all of the people that tried to kill us?" Kaidan shrugged. "I have no damn clue." I was pretty sure that was supposed to be a joke, but all it did was make me feel a hell of a lot more nervous.

Shepard on the other hand seemed to get the joke and chuckled.

"I get it Kaidan believe me," She said patting Kaidan on the shoulder. "But we're going to have to infiltrate the towers and intercept Krios before he gets a chance to get away. It was hard enough to track him down once, Cerberus might not be able to find him if he goes to ground so this is really time sensitive." Shepard zoomed back out on the map and zeroed in on the other circle. "The Justicar Samara is at a crime scene under lockdown by local authorities. I had EDI do some digging and I guess the victim was a Volus merchant that was ripped apart by close range exploding shotgun rounds. I don't know why the Justicar is there but I doubt it has to do with a murder that was obviously an Eclipse initiation." At this point Shepard shut down her Omnitool and let her arm fall to her side. "I say we go after Krios ASAP and then ideally I'd like to make a beeline for the crime scene and try to recruit this Justicar. Any objections?"

I looked at Kaidan and he didn't look like he had anything pressing to bring up. Neither did I so I gave her a thumbs up.

"Great." She said.

"Okay so how are we getting inside?" Kaidan asked. "If memory serves Nassana is pretty well connected, if we know about the assassin than it's probably safe to assume that she does too."

"She does," Shepard confirmed. "The tower is on lockdown, but it wouldn't be the first time we've gotten in somewhere we aren't supposed too."

"Well if the towers are on lockdown than she's scared," I commented starting to view this as a psychiatrist. "When people are scared they usually do one of three things. They run, they hide, or they fight. The lockdown doesn't fit running or hiding very well so there's a good chance she'll be trying to fight, so expect guards a lot of them." Both Kaidan and Shepard had their eyes glued to me as I spoke. "Based on what I've heard of her in passing I'd profile her as a narcissist, and maybe a sociopath, but she's going to default to staying someplace that she's going to feel safe. I'm thinking an office of some sort. The narcissistic tendencies make me think she'd want her office somewhere up high, the top floor if possible. That's probably where she'll hunker down." I hadn't expected psychology to be useful for this kind of thing, but I was pretty clearly wrong in that assumption.

"The best time to get Krios is going to be right after the kill," Kaidan added looking impressed at my deductions. "So we should try to get to Nassana as soon as we can."

"What about an airdrop?" Shepard said. "We could come in right on the roof and make our way down."

"As big as those towers are I seriously doubt that we're going to be able to drop safely in wind speeds as high as they're going to be," Kaidan countered. "We could come in from the ground level. Use explosives to breach the front door or a structurally unimportant wall." Kaidan raised his own arm and brought up a much more detailed map than the one Shepard had been using. He highlighted three places on the first floor. "Any of these places should work."

"If my analysis of Nassana's behaviour is correct then she's going to put the most security with her personally and on the ground floor," I added. "She'll be looking to cut off entrances and fortify her personal defences. If we want to bypass the security on the first floor than we could beach toward the middle of the tower."

"That's not a bad idea," Shepard said. "It's not like the towers are a fortress. We should be able to breach the glass just below the level where the wind speeds are too dangerous and we can go up from there."

"I like it," Kaidan said. "I don't see any glaring issues at least."

"Than it's decided. We'll breach the tower around the middle and go up from there." Shepard gave Kaidan and I a quick once over.

"So when do we leave?" I asked her. She pointed to a cab that was parked just beside the bench she had been playing sudoku on.

"Now."


	10. Into The Frying Pan

A/N For the rest of this work (The name I use for any literary piece including fanfiction) any dialogue in parenthesis is in sign language or some other kind of nonverbal communication (But typically it's sign language) unless it is specifically noted that the characters are speaking in a non-english language A/N

It hadn't occurred to me that a woman as together as Shepard would be so paradoxically skilled at driving. The problem wasn't that she was bad at driving the skycar per say, quite the opposite actually, she was one of the best drivers I'd ever seen. The problem was that she was absolutely crazy.

She wove through the air traffic skillfully with little regard for unimportant matters like 'safety' or 'laws'. I couldn't count how many times we'd almost collided with another vehicle only for the gutsy redhead to suddenly dive underneath the traffic. A perilously dangerous maneuver as the underside of a skycar is a universal blind spot.

"So how are we breaching the glass?" Kaidan asked the both of us. "It's glass is going to be dammed tough. It would have to be, at the speeds the winds move at that altitude."

I unconsciously flexed my hand, still not used to the bizarre texture of the lanthium armor on my skin.

"I could probably manage it without too much trouble," I suggested. "My only reservation is that this suit is laced with eezo current that augment my biotics, But I haven't had the opportunity to test how much of a difference it makes so…" I let the thought trail off and shrugged. "I'm pretty sure I won't under-shoot either way, so I'm pretty confident I can do it. How big should the blast be?"

"About the size of an airlock door!" Shepard shouted from the front after turning the car on its side to slip between two other cars.

"Alright I can manage that." I shouted back after I'd recovered my footing. I'd been expecting a smaller target, but I was far from being disappointed.

Small targets sucked.

With that out of the way Kaidan turned to address just me.

"Fair warning Jane is a force unto herself on the battlefield," Kaidan whispered quietly enough that she probably couldn't hear him. "There's a thing or two you should know before we dive in headfirst." He lifted his hand with all of his fingers curled into his palm. "First rule," His index finger popped up pointing to the ceiling" "Stay out of Jane's way. If you're between her and an enemy it will cost her a few precious seconds to get around you. She won't complain if that happens, but it works out better for everyone if you just avoid the situation." A second finger comes up. "Lastly, and possibly most importantly, don't try to keep up with her, physically or mentally. You haven't fought beside her long enough to know how to without getting distracted, distractions will get you killed and Jane can be a pretty big one."

"Better or worse than her driving?" I asked. Kaidan thought for a second before replying.

"In what way?" He said pausing for emphasis. "In how good she is at it? Or in how terrifying it is?" I decided to go for the safe answer.

"Both."

"Yes." The look on Kaidan's face was dead serious.

"I'll keep that in mind."

Kaidan gave me a thumbs up and turned back to face the window.

"Get ready Doc!" Shepard yelled. "ETA is two minutes!"

The rest of the ride was filled with the tense silence that always occupied the transport before a mission. The quiet persisted until Shepard signaled me to get ready.

I got to my feet and gathered a biotic aura around myself. I felt my armor vibrate ever so lightly for just a second before it settled. I spent the seconds before the door opened wrapping myself in a barrier until I remembered that the vibration of my armor was meant to remind me of the natural barrier generated by my armor.

At that realization I hastened to draw the shield inward so it would reinforce the natural barrier instead of potentially destabilizing both of them like mass effect fields had the tendency to do when were too close to each other for too long. If my barriers destabilized mid fight it could mean my death. If I was lucky then they would just collapse, but if I wasn't than they could very well turn volatile and detonate. I was very glad I caught that before if blew up in my face, maybe literally.

Once the door had started opening I began to draw power into the air in front of me in the form of a sphere floating in midair in front of me. When the door opened all the way I released the power as a wave of force that slammed into the wind resistant glass shattering it on impact.

I allowed myself a brief moment of before I saw Kaidan leap from the car to the inside of tower. After he touched ground safely the man twisted in place and reach his hand out wrapping the car in a biotic field so it wouldn't plummet when Shepard leg go of the controls.

Without a second to waste I sprang from the skycar, and caught myself in a biotic field that carried me to safety beside Kaidan. I turned to help him hold the vehicle. Shepard made the jump soon after, landing with the grace that I had expected of herr. After she was safe on solid ground Kaidan and I set the car down on the floor.

"You have got to teach me how to do that." Kaidan said once the car was secure. I chuckled at the demand. I asked he was referring to the biotic glide I'd used to get onto the building without incident. It was a popular trick among Alliance trained Vanguards and Adepts, but since Sentinels didn't usually have the sheer biotic power of a Vanguard, or the impressive skill of an Adept, they were rarely taught how to perform the glide. This made teaching the technique a popular request during my training at Grissom since the panache of the technique had a way of catching the eye of young hotshot biotics who couldn't tell when something was beyond them.

"We'll see." Normally I would've just gave him an outright no. There was a good reason that Sentinels weren't taught how to glide despite how useful it was. They just didn't usually have either the power to successfully hold themselves in the air or the skill to control the effect with anything resembling consistency. What made me answer the way he did was that what I've seen of Kaidan's biotics in particular gave me the impression of an Adept in training.

He rolled his eyes at me while trying to bite back the smile that was making itself known across his lips. He drew his assault rifle, falling into a firing stance as he turned his focus away from me.

Shepard didn't speak. She nodded at Kaidan and I took that as my que to start being quiet. My suit helped with that.

For some reason the same quality that made it resistant to gunfire made my footsteps quieter. I didn't understand it, but I figured I didn't need too. It helped that Nathan had taught me a trick or six about moving quietly and not being noticed.

The three of us crept our way through the hall that we had entered into. I had expected to have company as soon as we made our entrance, but instead we we're almost completely clear. The few guards we did encounter were easily evaded.

It turned out that Shepard preferred stealth tactics over the common 'kill them all' method. I liked that. It helped me feel more confident in my decision to join her team.

Kaidan was also surprisingly good at sneaking in hindsight I should've expected that. He always moved very smoothly, taking each step with an unintentional degree of care. Now he was just putting effort into the task.

What I very much did not like was how easy this was.

"This doesn't feel right," I whispered to my companions at a barely audible volume. "If Nassana is really so scared this should be harder."

Shepard and Kaidan nodded in silent agreement.

"We're probably going to run into pretty heavy fortifications on the roof," Shepard noted just as quietly as I had. "Which will be good for us at least." I quirked my brow and put on a confused expression asking a silent question.

" _Why?"_

"Because we'll be biotics on a rooftop," Kaidan elaborated softly. "A rooftop is a really great position for any biotic. If we need to get someone out of the way quick it's as easy as tossing them off the roof."

I gave a thumbs up in place of a verbal response.

I didn't like the idea of killing. It wasn't something I'd done often and I was light years away from being okay with that.

Our trip was went on like that until we got to a roof access point. Shepard and Kaidan both shared a look and turned to me. Then Shepard began to make a complex series of gestures that I recognized as a mix of American Sign Language and standard Alliance military hand signs. Both of which I was familiar with.

" _Do you understand this?"_ She asked. I nodded an affirmative. " _Good."_

" _Just so you know I know sign too."_ Kaidan gestured mostly at me, tossing me a quick wink with the eye that Shepard couldn't see.

" _Here's the plan,"_ Shepard signed. " _I will be the first to go up. After 10 seconds Blue-Gun-Man goes up, and Blue-Mind-Doctor goes up 5 seconds after Blue-Gun-Man."_ Her orders baffled me for a split second until it hit me.

Blue-Gun-Man and Blue-Mind-Doctor were name signs for Kaidan and I respectively. With that in mind I just interpreted them as our names instead of the literal meanings.

" _Once we are up there aim to deal with any that as quickly as possible. It won't take long for the enemies to regroup. We want to start and finish the fight all before that chaos dissipates. Understand?"_

" _Understood Tiny-Crazy-Woman."_ Kaidan and I signed back in unison. I was glad to see we were on the same page with Shepard's name sign. Shepard on the other hand just put her hand over her face in a universal sign of disappointment that needed no translation.

Then she raised her hand and counted down from three on her fingers

One…

Two…

Three…

Shepard nearly instantly drew two matching pistols from her holsters and leaped through the door at speed that I was almost certain weren't possible for a human to achieve with either specialized drugs, or heavy genetic/cybernetic augmentation.

Which made sense for a high ranking former Alliance officer like her after I put a second of thought into it.

Before I could consider that anymore I saw Kaidan bolt out and the sounds of gunfire were joined by the telltale sounds of tech attacks and biotic strikes.

I almost forgot to count after Kaidan made his charge.

Almost.

Five seconds later I rushed into the fray under the heaviest barriers I could pull together.

The roof was bare, and clearly not designed to be the site of a firefight like this one. Kaidan was hunkered down behind a piece of large machinery, but despite the less than ideal cover he was untouched.

Probably because almost all of the enemies focus was on Shepard.

When Kaidan gave me that warning in the car I hadn't had any idea what to expect, but seeing it with my own eyes it suddenly made all to much sense.

Shepard was sprinting around the rooftop wielding only her twin pistols, and minimal armor. Not that it looked like she needed the armor at all. The Redhead wove her way through the storm of bullets in a way that made it look like a dance. When a normal soldier took cover, Shepard combat rolled out of the way.

Only she wasn't just evading every single bullet aimed her way, but she was hitting them just as hard as they tried to hit her. The twin pistols in her hands were firing almost constantly in time with her dance, and what's more as far as I could tell damn near every shot she fired hit! Not every bullet was a lethal shot mind you, but even the ones that didn't kill its mark hit something like a knee, basically downing them anyway.

I hadn't even realized I had fallen into the exact trap Kaidan had warned me against until Kaidan grabbed my shoulder and shook it hard.

"Snap out of it Doc! This is a fight, do something!"

That ended up being the kick in my ass that brought me into the action.

There were about two dozen hostiles on the same roof as us. Most of them unshielded, unarmored, and without any barriers. It was a biotic's dream come true.

I flung a bolt of hastily gathered power towards a group of three foot soldiers. The attack slammed into them without warning. The center most one took the brunt of the attack, and was flung clear off of the side of the building while the other two were just knocked on the ground.

I caught a slight movement in my peripheral vision and twisted left as quick as I could. Which caused the armor covered fist of an enemy lieutenant to just barely miss my jaw.

The lifetime of aikido and dabbling in other martial arts had honed my reflexes to the point of reacting without conscious thought.

I reached out and grabbed the man's arm by the wrist and pulled him into me. I angled my shoulder so that his forward momentum would carry him into it. As hit impacted my shoulder I thrust the joint up and against his form. The motion of my shoulder and by the grip I had on his arm sent him flying into the air. Where I caught him in a mass reducing field that left him to drift aimlessly through the air.

The air grew silent as the sounds of combat abruptly halted. I looked around to find every opponent who had attacked us dead, unconscious or out of sight.

"Damn." I whispered under my breath. Shepard had, for the most part, singlehandedly taken out at the very least half of the people who'd attacked us.

I knew that the training at Grissom Academy was some of the best in the galaxy, but even so I only dealt with four people in the time it had taken the short redhead to dispose of more than twice that.

My thoughts must have been easy to see on my face because I caught Kaidan smirking at me out of the corner of my eye. I shot him a dirty look.

"Come on people we've got work to do," Shepard scolded. "You can make eyes at each other on your own time."

"Yes Ma'am." Kaidan and I replied not quite in unison.

The woman nodded in satisfaction and we followed her to what we figured was the rooftop office.

"How do we know that this is it?" Kaidan asked, pointing to the building. "It could just as easily be that one or the one back there."

"The human subconscious is hardwired toward self preservation," I replied automatically. "So it can usually be assumed that if you let a person pick any room in a building to have their office in they will almost always pick a corner office on the top floor with a great view. The top floor is the hardest to get too, and the view could help you see a threat before it gets to you." I pointed at our destination. "That of fits that profile best."

"It's also the only one that has guards." Shepard added to the end of my lecture. I actually hadn't noticed the guards but sure enough she was right.

"Fair enough," Kaidan said with a slight hint of something odd in his voice. "I'll keep the questions to myself next time."

"Kaidan, Shepard, stop," I commanded, the words slipping out before I gave them a first thought, much less a second. I turned to face Kaidan beside me, who had in fact froze in place.

"Say that again," I ordered. This time I noticed that my voice had taken on the quality that I used on patients that were being particularly dense. Kaidan looked thrown off by the sudden shift in tone.

"What?" He said his confusion plain to see.

"What's the meaning of this Crystilyn." Shepard demanded authoritatively.

I didn't even turn to address her.

"Wait your turn." I barked fixing Kaidan in place with what I'd been told was a harrowing stare. "Say it again."

"I'll keep the questions to myself next time?" He repeated unsure.

I marched right up in his face with my eyes barely a quarter of a foot away from his.

"I never want to hear you say that again. You should never feel ashamed because you asked a question because you don't know something. Asking questions is good, it's healthy, it's necessary. Do you understand?"

Kaidan nodded slowly, but he didn't speak.

"Good," I smiled as a backed away. "We can go now."

When I turned to glance at Shepard I almost froze at the absolutely withering glare she was sending my way.

Key word; almost.

She didn't say a word. She just glared at me like I'd just run over her dog.

"Go." She Commanded, and I didn't think insubordination would end particularly well at that moment.

That was when the plan went sideways.


	11. Secrets Unveiled

I'm sorry that the last chapter took so long, but other obligations had to be addressed at the time

I turned toward the roofside office at Shepard's order. At first glance the structure looked pretty normal. Until I saw the bodies anyway.

There were almost two dozen corpses strewn all over the outside of the office. Some of the armor was melted to the point of fusing with the charred flesh of the person within while others were frosted over like an intense cold had fallen over them. One shattered as I walked past as if the slight breeze produced by my passing was enough to compromise the integrity of the frozen mass of metal and meat.

The strangest of them all however were the ones that didn't have any visible signs of damage at all. They were just fully armored soldiers lying on the ground not breathing.

"What the hell is this?" Shepard asked under her breath to no one in particular.

"I don't know," Kaidan replied. "I'd say they were subjected to tech attacks, but they weren't." He pointed to the frozen bodies. "A cryogenic tech attack would have frozen them from outside in so their shields would have been overloaded when the attack breached them, but these shield capacitors are undamaged." He looked toward the melted corpses. "I can't tell if that happen the those ones, the armor is too damaged, but if you look closely the ground is completely unharmed. Anything hot enough to fuse your armor to your skin is way too hot to just not leave some kind of structural damage. And those…" Kaidan was staring at the bodies that had no clear signs of damage, much less of a lethal assault. "I've never heard of a tech attack that can do that."

"So what does that mean?" Shepard pressed. If I didn't know better (Which I don't) I would say there was a hint of fear in her voice.

Kaidan took a deep breath and exhaled running a hand through his dark hair. "Whatever killed them completely ignored their shields and armor. Hell I think their shields are what kept the heat from scorching the ground!"

"Well that isn't terrifying at all," Sarcasm rang like a bell in the woman's voice. "What about you Doc, does this ring any bells for you?"

I flinched when she addressed me, not because there was anything harsh about what she said, but because the scene did look familiar.

"Yeah it does," I said after a long pause. "But if I'm right there isn't much you can do about it anyway." The cryptic statement was met by confused glances and silent questions. "I can explain, but if I'm right we really don't have time for a lengthy explanation. We need to hurry."

I took at a swift jog rushing to the door. The sounds of footsteps behind me were the only reason I knew that the other two were following me. I reached the door of the building and frantically tried to open the door.

"Dammit," It wasn't opening and my attempts at forcing it weren't working.

"Calm down I've got it just give me a second!" Kaidan shouted as he pulled up his Omnitool and pressed a long string of keys in rapid succession. "It's just powered down I'll reroute some power from the building."

Seconds later the door opened. Inside the large office was two men. One was a Drell that was lying on the floor unconscious but still breathing. The other was a middle aged human male with sharp, handsome features wearing jeans and a white shirt under a black trenchcoat. He smiled at me with perfectly white teeth and a kind of sick glee as the door opened.

It made me feel sick to my stomach.

A shiver flew down my spine and rippled across my skin as I stepped inside.

"Why am I not surprised that I would just happen to find you, of all people, here, of all places," I spat the words at him with vehemence befitting a Saturday night cartoon villain.

The man's grin widened.

"How could I possibly provide an answer to such a vague question?" He said in his stereotypical english accent which just pissed me off more.

"Who is this Will?" Kaidan asked. I'd completely forgotten that he was there.

"Kaidan stay behind me," I ordered without taking my eyes off of the man. "His name is Elias Calhoun, and he is incredibly dangerous."

Elias chuckled at my remark. The sound was as beautiful as it always had been. A part of me hated that I still had thoughts like that about his laugh.

An uncountable number of memories rushed through my mind, brought to the forefront of my subconscious by the familiar sound.

"Must you be so clichè dear William?" Elias intoned, a hint of his native Irish accent slipping into the british one he'd since acquired. The two coming together in a way that made it sound like he was singing while he spoke. "Surely you could've picked a less popularized way to phrase that?"

"I never did have your gift for wordplay," I retorted. I was fully aware that he'd have a dozen responses to anything I could say so I cut to the chase. "Why are you here Elias?"

"Why do you think I'm here William?"

"I'm not playing this game with you Elias."

"Only because you know I'll win."

"Stop evading the question."

"Fine then," He relented. "You're no fun these days William."

I was about to respond when I caught the slightest upward turn of the left side of Elias's lip.

"Don't you dare-."

Elias interrupted me with a fanciful flourish of his hand of his hand.

" _Ignis."_ the word rolled off his tongue with no small amount of panache. A burst of red hot fire leapt from his outstretched hand and soared through the air in my general direction.

" _Aer."_ The old word of power felt comfortable on my tongue, like seeing an old friend after years of estrangement. Unlike Elias I spoke the word clearly and smoothly sweeping my arm in an arc. My skin felt like someone was running an electric charge through me as the ancient power flowed through my body into the air around me. The wind changed course to obey my will and the flames were tossed aside by the gust.

"I can see you haven't lost your touch," Elias said with a hint of amusement. "I was worried that this would be easy."

I didn't allow myself to be phased by the casual threat.

" _Revertetur in terram suam,"_ I wove the archaic power around Kaidan and Shepard until I remembered the unconscious Drell. " _Reliquis redire."_ I hooked the Drell into the incantation twisting space in on itself until with a sharp ' _snap!'_ the trio vanished.

Elias furrowed his brow in confusion.

"Return home?" He asked.

"That was the first one, the second one was 'return home with the rest'," I elaborated hands at the ready. "Are you looking for a duel Elias? You know I'm not fond of them."

"I remember. But I do so love-."

I knew he was going to strike when he was done talking so I didn't give him the chance.

" _Spatium Torquent,"_ The space in front of me distorted itself until it resembled the inside of a kaleidoscope. " _Apoculo."_ The distorted area suddenly vanished, taking Elias with it.

The world was eerily silent for a straight minute after the confrontation.

I felt exhausted. I hadn't used magic in well over a year, and I now that the adrenaline had vacated my body I was starting to feel the consequences of that decision.

Back when I was a Magician full-time I would've been able to duel Elias to a standstill on my worst day, and on my best he wouldn't have had a snowball's chance in hell. But now I was tired out by a short exchange and a comparatively simple spell of mass teleportation.

I only had the stamina for a few more tricks before I passed out from using more magic than my body was used to.

"Bravo," Said someone that sounded like they were somewhere behind me. I heard a slow rhythm of clapping accompany the voice. "Well done brother."

I turned to see my brother Nathan seated on the large desk in the center of the room. Like always he was grinning wildly.

"Evening Nathan," I said not bothering to act surprised at his entrance. "How much did you see?"

"Everything, but you already knew that. They're going to ask questions."

I sighed deeply.

"I know."

"You won't be able to protect them from our world if you don't start practicing again."

"I know."

"Do you need help?"

Not much threw me off when my brother entered the picture, but that hearing him ask that did.

"You haven't offered to help me in years."

Nathan shrugged like it wasn't a big deal.

"This is different."

"In what way?"

"The stakes are larger. If you fail to protect them from our world the entire galaxy could pay the price, and you're not what you once were magically."

"I could get there again."

"Not soon enough to matter."

He was right. I would never reach the same levels of power that I'd attained before I stopped practicing.

"I know, but I stopped for a reason Nathan-."

"You don't have a choice. He will come after you again, and he won't fall for a trick like that a second time. You will need to be ready."

"I know." There was a long pause.

"Do you want me help?"

Nathan was powerful as hell. His help would be invaluable, but it wouldn't come without risk. My brother wasn't perfect, and his flaws could be crippling at times. That being said… I could afford to say no.

"Yes." The word felt heavy in my mouth.

"Then let us be on our way."

My skin began to tingle with the tell-tale sensation that meant magic was at work. I could feel the power wrap around me. It shunted me through reality like something had shoved me through a door.

When the power faded I fell into a very real table and waited patiently for the dizziness to fade.

Once it did I recognized the room as the Normandy's conference room. Shepard and Kaidan were standing against the wall and the Drell was lying on top of the table. Nathan, in contrast, was perfectly upright in the doorway of the room.

"What the hell was that?" Shepard asked bewildered by what she'd been through. I waited a moment longer before I responded, getting to my feet while I spoke.

"That was magic." Nathan answered before I'd finished standing. Shepard looked unimpressed.

"You can't be serious," She said sceptically. "Magic can't be real."

"Why not?" I asked.

The woman furrowed her brow in concentration.

"We would know about it," Kaidan piped in. His voice was level clear of the shock evident in Shepard's. "It couldn't be possible to hide something like that in a galaxy with so much surveillance. It would be caught on camera at some point."

"You're right," I replied. "Magic gets caught on camera all the time. People just refuse to believe it to be what it is. You rationalize it as being an advanced technology, or a biotic trick or something like that. Most Magicians don't even bother to hide our powers."

Kaidan and Shepard both fell silent at the explanation and I was pretty sure they were convinced.

"Fine, so magic exists," Shepard began in the voice I've only ever heard her use when she was about to dress someone down. "And you just decided not to tell us?"

"Of course he did Warrior-Maid," Nathan cut in. "One of most fundamental characteristics of magic is that it is controlled by force of will. It is well known that people who deny the existence of magic often unconsciously project their disbelief as a crude, though effective, method of protecting themselves from magical attack."

If the confused expressions on the pair's faces were anything to go by my brother wasn't doing a great job of explaining the concept.

"Magicians control magic by imposing our will onto reality to force what we want to happen," I elaborated. "We basically tell something, a box for example, to light on fire, and then by believing that it will ignite we force reality to do exactly that. Even people that don't know how to use magic project their will on reality because they believe so entirely that the same box won't light on fire that it makes it harder for a Magician to ignite it anyway. Kind of like how if you hold a door closed it's hard for someone else to open it. People who don't believe in magic hold the door to using magic closed so it's a hell of a lot harder to hurt them with it."

"So you were trying to protect us." Kaidan said his voice touched by realization.

"Exactly."

"So what now?"

"Elias will be back. I caught him off guard this time, but next time I don't like my odds." Nathan chuckled as I finished speak.

"There was a time when you could have taken him brother." I winced when Nathan mentioned my former abilities.

"You can't anymore?" Shepard asked? I sighed.

"Magic is like a muscle, the more you use it the better you are at it. If course that runs the other way too, if you stop using it your ability to manipulate magical energy diminishes." I paused for a few seconds to let that sink in. "Today was the first time I've used magic in almost two years." Shepard crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"So you aren't good at it anymore." She said it as a statement instead of as question.

"Not precisely. I haven't forgotten anything I knew about how to use magic well, I just don't have as much raw power available to me at a moments notice."

"With but a few months and practice my dear brother will be back and better than ever." Nathan added. "In the meantime you do realize that this man is dying right?" My brother gestured to the Drell lying on the table.

"He looks just fine to me." Kaidan said taking a closer look at the alien, but I could tell otherwise.

"No Nathan's right, something's not right with this." I reached out with my time worn magical senses and my skin buzzed with the familiar sensation of magic. "It feels like a curse to me. Tied to his life aura if I had to wager a guess."

"English please." Shepard requested.

"A spell is draining his vital forces, think of it like a magical bleed," I clarified. "I don't think I have the juice left to break it without killing him. Nathan would you mind?" Before I'd even finished asking my brother was raising his hands.

" _Confractus Maledictionem."_ Magic surged from Nathan's hands as he moved his fingers in a complex pattern molding the power around the Drell. Then with a dramatic gesture the power cut through the curse, severing it from the Drell's aura.

" _Restituere animam sphaeram."_ More magical energy poured from Nathan, but this time the power folded over him wrapping him in a glowing cocoon of violet light.

"Whoa," Kaidan gasped in awe of the beautiful sight. "What is that?"

The question sounded rhetorical, but I decided to answer it anyway.

"That's his aura, a field of natural magical energy that surrounds all living things. It's the main source of power that Magicians use to fuel magic." I watched the violet light shimmer as it bent around the man. "The color of a person's aura can tell you a lot about them, including about how powerful they are." I flicked an eye to Nathan. "Would you mind if I used yours as an example?"

My brother just smiled in an only slightly unnerving way. "Go right ahead Magician."

"Well you all look like you've got this under control," Shepard said rubbing her temples. "I've got a headache so I'm going to lie down. Kaidan don't let the wizards blow up anything important." Kaidan saluted the woman in a nonverbal reply, and she grunted while she walked away.

"Anyway," I said once a respectable amount of time had passed. "Nathan's aura is violet. In magic the color purple is the color of command, it implies control in some fashion so people with a aura that's a shade of purple tend to be authoritative. Violet auras on the other hand are more fanciful then that. Their way of controlling their environment is with panache and charm, like actors or politicians. That panache lends itself well to magic so if you have a violet aura you tend to have a gift for magic."

Kaidan listened intently to every word I spoke. I could almost see him filing the information away for later examination.

"What color is your aura?" He asked me.

"Silver, which is known as The Color of Magic." I siphoned off a miniscule sliver of power from my aura and made it flare around me. I knew from experience that it would look like a quarter inch long shimmering silver border formed around my body. "It's called that because nearly all of the greatest Magicians that ever lived are said to have had silver auras. As far as I can tell all it does is make me more sensitive to magic than most Magicians."

"That's why he could sense the spell on this poor fellow here," Nathan cut in. "I knew there was some kind of magic going on, but couldn't have given you any details. _William_ on the other hand was able to tell not only that magic was being used, but what type on magic and what it was doing." Power rolled over me as my brother spoke the three syllables of my name.

"Nathan be careful," I warned. "You said my name." Nathan winced at the realization.

"My apologies brother it won't happen again."

"It's alright Nate."

Kaidan was looking from me, to Nathan, and back again.

"What's wrong with him using your name?" The soldier asked.

"Magic is used by directing your will and charging it with magic," I explained. "Most people can't just focus their thoughts on something and impose their will on it, so you have to use a physical medium to carry the magic. The most common method of doing this is with sound. The issue is that the more a Magician uses a word to channel magic, the more the body gets used to charging it with magic. That's why most Magicians use dead languages like Latin, like myself for example. Nathan made the mistake of using English to channel magic so whenever he speaks certain words in English he involuntarily channels magic through them. My name is one of those words. If he says the wrong sentence using my name he could seriously hurt me, so he sticks with titles."

A part of me was starting to get annoyed at the constant questions, but another part of me was really enjoying it.

Magic had been a huge part of my life before I went cold turkey, and I was really good at it. It was refreshing getting a chance to show off what I'd spent most of my life learning and refining, but that didn't change the fact that I was exhausted.

"I'm going to go recover from that duel. Kaidan you know where to find me if you need me." I almost started giving Nathan directions to our room before I remembered that he would have no trouble finding me anywhere on, and quite possibly off, the ship.

(TIME SKIP)

I didn't realize how much the duel had taken out of me until I tried to get back to my room.

My legs felt like they were made of iron, (Don't ask how I know what that feels like) and my arms didn't feel much better. My fingers were clumsy with weariness and the lack of accuracy made it nearly impossible to input the right key code into the access panel to unlock the door.

I was on my third attempt when I gave up. I've always hated how unless you were on earth every door, window, and elevator absolutely had to be so unnecessarily complicated to use. I was just about ready to kill someone if it would get the door open.

"Here let me." A gentle hand brushed mine aside, cleared the numbers I'd already put in, and deftly entered the correct code.

I was so out of it that I didn't even notice the door _whoosh_ open. I just stood in place looking out into the middle distance blankly.

"Will." The same hand as before rested itself on my arm and pulled on me carefully. "Come on." The skin of the hand was smooth and soft, occasionally broken up by thin lines and rougher spots that were probably old scars and calluses.

I let the hand lead me into the room at a slow place. At one point or another I closed my eyes though exactly when was a mystery to me.

"Let's get you into bed." Another hand just like the other helped angle my body so I could fall onto the soft mattress. The other side of the mattress dipped down and I felt the hand again. Only this time it was brushing back my hair in a soothing, repetitive motion.

"Just sleep…"

(LINE BREAK)

Holy shit this one got long. Honestly I probably could have broken this up into a few chapters, but I didn't want to drag it out. Let me know if you prefer chapters about this size or if the shorter ones float your boat.


	12. Nothing's Ever Simple

It was warm.

I don't know why that was what stuck out the most to me in my half-awake half-asleep daze.

I laid there for a good few minutes trying to cling to the pleasant heat of the blankets on top of me.

Only something wasn't right.

It wasn't just warm, it was _too_ warm. And the heat was coming from the wrong directions. Instead of emanating from my body and being caught by the synthetic fabric it was radiating from something behind me.

Something that was breathing hot air onto the back of my neck, and something that had two arms wrapped around my torso. Or should I say _someone._

I'd like to say that I came to my senses immediately and lapped out the bed to confront my unidentified companion, but honestly? It had been a seriously long time since I'd shared a bed with someone and I'd be lying if I said that it didn't feel really good to have someone's arm wrapped around me.

So I didn't leave _immediately_.

I waited a good five more minutes to wake up first.

When I was ready to get out I tried to untangle the death grip holding me in place.

I couldn't.

I took a deep breath and centered my mind and directed my will toward my unconscious bedmate.

" _Leniter evilgilare faciatis."_ I whispered feeling the slightest hint of magic touch the air.

A few seconds later the figure behind me groaned in a deep baritone that I could quite place. The form pressed up against me as they stretched their body, and I could comfortably say that the person accompanying me was definitely male.

"Morning," Said Kaidan in a rougher voice then usual. "How did you sleep?"

"Really well actually," I answered surprised to find that my voice was just as rough as his. "Mind letting me go?"

"Hm?" He grunted in slight confusion. "Oh yeah, sure." He pulled his arms out from under my torso and sat up on the bed. He was still wearing the same uniform pants as the day before, but he'd shrugged off the shirt which was probably on the floor somewhere.

I hadn't seen Kaidan shirtless yet, and I wasn't disappointed to say the least. His upper body was covered by dense muscle, and not the bulging pectorals and biceps of bodybuilders, but rather the compact and lean muscle of an athlete.

I looked away, but I wasn't entirely sure why.

"So what happened last night?" I asked him while he shrugged on the shirt he'd previously discarded.

"Nothing bad, you were having some trouble getting into the room so I help you inside and made sure you got to bed alright. But once you'd fallen asleep I realized that you were laying on my arm and I didn't want to wake you up again. So I tossed my shirt off and got comfortable. You don't mind do you?"

"No not at all. I'll just get dressed and go check on Nate." I got up from my position of the bed and quickly started changing into a fresh set of clothes.

The first thing I saw was a pair of well worn jeans and a faded black T-shirt so I slipped those on without ceremony and threw on one of my white medical coats.

"Before you go can I ask you something?"

I stopped and spun on my heels to face Kaidan.

"Yeah sure."

"Why did you stop using magic?"

I inhaled a deep breath and let it out slowly. I didn't want to talk about it, but it wouldn't be fair to let them be blindsided.

"Magic isn't really meant to be used by people," I began while I took a seat in one of the comfortable chair adorning the room. Kaidan followed my example and sat in the chair across from it. "It's a force of incredible power, and by its very nature it changes everything it touches. Including the people who use it." Memories of the years just before I stopped practising flickered across my mind, but I shoved them down. "Sometimes the changes are small, your eyes change color, or your voice sounds different. But sometimes the changes are more drastic. The first thing I noticed was my senses getting sharper. I could taste flavors in food that were unlike anything I'd ever experienced and see into spectrums of light invisible to the human eye. After that my reaction speeds and reflexes heightened. On a good day a person can catch a falling pen in mid air, but usually only one. I could catch four if I tried. Then my skin started getting harder. Things like skinning my knee, and at one point even bullets, just didn't hurt me. But that's where it started to take a turn for the worse" I didn't think it would be so hard to talk about those years, but it felt like my body was trying to forcibly resist saying the words.

Kaidan listened silently to my story. He didn't interrupt or push for more details. He only nodded in acknowledgement from time to time.

"Things started to get odd around me. My thoughts started to change in a slow and subtle way. I got more objective focused, single minded in a way. How I did something started to matter less and getting the job done became more and more important. I found myself willing to take measures that I would never have even considered a year earlier. Which is when my body started to change again. My teeth began to get sharper and my nails longer. Like fangs and claws. That's why I decided to stop using magic, so I wouldn't become a monster."

The word monster echoed in my mind. I tried to ignore it, but I couldn't shake the thought away.

I hadn't noticed it earlier, but the changes were starting again. I could recognize some of the subtle scents in the air that I hadn't smelled since the months after quitting magic. Things like the metallic aroma of rust when I knew that the metal was in near perfect condition. It wouldn't be long before animal pheromones would become perceptible to me.

"Will it start happening again?" Kaidan asked, his concerned expression warming my heart just a little.

"It already has. I don't know how long I have."

"What can I do?"

I was touched by the total absence of hesitation in the question, in hindsight that was probably the reason I gave the answer I did.

"No," I lied. "Not anything that that would make a difference."

He looked disappointed at the answer, but it didn't look like he caught the lie. "I need to check on Nate, you should probably go fill Shepard in on who he is. She didn't ask yesterday and that's probably because of everything I dropped on her."

We both stood from our seats at a leisurely pace.

"I'll do that." Kaidan said and walked out leaving me to find Nathan.

(LINE BREAK)

I wandered around the ship for surprising long time after finding out that Nathan and the Drell had been moved to the Med Bay.

The Normandy was much larger than I was anticipating and I quickly got lost.

I could've used magic to find my way, but I wanted to conserve my powers for when they were needed.

"You're lost aren't you." Commented Garrus as he passed by me in one of they many hallways. I rolled my eyes

"I'm trying to find the Med Bay, my brother is supposed to be there."

Garrus put a finger on his chin and tapped on it a couple on times.

"Brother… brother…" The Turian repeated like he was trying to remember something. "You mean the weird guy with the silver hair and eyes?" I nodded an affirmative. "Yeah he's still in the Med Bay. Come on I'll help you out."

The tall alien led me through the halls until we got to a room labeled MED BAY and he gestured to the door. "If you can't figure it out from here you're going to have a real rough time here."

I would've quipped something back at him, but he was already marching away to a room at the far end of a corridor by a small kitchen.

I shook my head to myself and walked into the Med Bay.

The room was a pretty white color and various medical machines and chemical containment coolers that came together as a very sleek and modern aesthetic.

Seated at a large desk was an older woman wearing a Cerberus uniform with short white hair. On the other side of the room my brother was lying on one of the beds beside the one with the Drell on it.

"Well I'll be damned," Said the older woman who had turned to see who'd come in. "If it isn't Doctor of Psychiatry, William Crystilyn." The woman was to her feet and looking me over with an appraising gaze. She had looked vaguely familiar, but I'd recognize that voice anywhere.

"Karin!?" I shouted much more loudly than I'd meant too. I crossed the room to stand beside her and she wrapped her arms around me in a warm hug. "What are you doing here?"

We were about the same height so Karin's head fit in my shoulder, but I could feel her lips turn in a smile.

"I'm doing my job Will," She said softly in my ear. Her voice was full with affection, and the memories the sounds evoked made me smile. "These people need my help, and I'll be damned if the Alliance is about to tell me who needs my help when someone else needs it more."

I wasn't surprised in the slightest. That was just like Karin really, she'd do anything to help her children. Anyone would be lucky to know her, and even luckier to have her care for you.

"It's good to see you again Mom." I felt her laugh into my shoulder. She broke the hug without stopping and swatted me on the shoulder playfully.

"I'm not your mother Will." She said through the laughter.

"Maybe not," I said. "But you're the closest thing I've ever had to one, so no I'm not going to stop calling you Mom, it doesn't matter how many times you ask me."

The woman frowned, but I knew her well enough to sense that she was fighting off a smile.

"I missed you too Will. I heard that you stopped practicing for a few years, I'm proud of you. I know how hard that must have been."

I was blinking tears out of my eyes. Karin had cared for me after my parents died. She was the one who'd introduced me to magic, and she'd been the one to pull strings to get me into Grissom Academy and one of the most prestigious Med Schools in the galaxy.

"It was. I wish I didn't have to start again, but if I'm going to protect them from Eli I don't really have a choice." Karin's face twisted in disgust at the sound of my old nickname for Elias.

"God I hate that man. I wish I'd never introduced him to you. I suppose you'll be setting up wards on the Normandy than?"

"That's the plan. It'll be a good chance to give me a bit of practice before I get in a fight. Now that I've started practicing again any other practitioner that we end up fighting isn't going to hold back."

"Good. I was worried you wouldn't think of that. I'll help you with the wards, I've already placed some on the Med Bay. It would be a simple task to extend them to the entire ship and reinforce them."

Karin had been my first teacher in magic and she'd been practicing for a very long time before that. She had accumulated a mental library of arcane lore over the years, and she was probably more skilled at using her powers than Nathan and I put together.

Speaking of Nathan…

"How is the patient doing?"

Karin waved a dismissive hand toward the Drell.

"Don't worry about him, Shepard came in to speak with him and Nathan. Properly warding the ship is far more important." The woman turned back toward her desk and lifted her hands just above the wood. "Are you familiar with Alexi's seventh revision of the standard Ablative Deflection Ward?"

"Vaguely." I replied while I quickly ran through a mental exercise to prepare myself to work a cooperative spell.

"Good, I'll lead."

(LINE BREAK)

Holy mother of God I'd forgotten how much of a bitch wards can be to set up. If Karin hadn't been triple check both of our work with the same meticulous eye she had for medicine the spell would have been an utter catastrophe.

A ward is basically a magical security system. Only instead of calling the police when someone breaks in, they tend to either curse the intruder, or kill them where they stand. The part that's tricky about setting up wards is that unlike a technological security system where you have to put sensors of some kind at every entrance to detect an intruder, wards start out already covering every inch of the area they were meant to protect. So instead of putting up sensors you have to set up conditions that tell the wards not to act against someone who's trying to enter.

It took most of the day for Karin and I to finish with the wards, and by the time we were done we were both exhausted on a magical level.

I grabbed a bite to eat from the Mess Sergeant and gracefully crashed in my room. When I woke up the next morning (alone this time.) there was a message from Shepard requesting my presence for on the mission to find the Asari Justicar named Samara on Illium.

I swiftly fired back a response saying that I would be there, and two hours later I was decked out in my armor sitting in a police station making small talk with Kaidan and Miranda while Shepard talked to/interrogated The officer on duty.

"Do you think Cerberus could integrate magic into out R&D department?" Asked Miranda. The question didn't surprise me I the least.

"I doubt it," Came my reply. "To effectively use magic in research and development you would need to both find a way to generate massive amounts of magical energy, and find a practitioner that would be willing to train such a large quantity of people in the safe use of magic."

"Would that be difficult?" Asked Kaidan.

"Very. A lot of people who use magic are reluctant to teach for a ton of reasons, some good, some selfish. Most of the time they just aren't willing to make the large commitment of time and magical resources that taking on even of student can be. That and magical usually isn't stable enough to apply it to anything chemical or technological the way you're thinking."

The beautiful woman quirked her brow.

"How so?"

"Magic that is undirected has the unfortunate quality of speeding up the progression of entropy," I said. "It doesn't usually matter since most of the time magical energy is either being contained in some way or directed into a spell. Even if it is undirected, or wild, the process we call Entropic Acceleration occurs exponentially at a rate that is directly proportional to both the amount of magical energy in contact with the subject, and the duration of the contact. More so the latter than the former. So the residual power that bleeds out of any magical enchantment bound to a physical object would eventually cause the chemical to expire, or the machine to break."

"Damn," Miranda said under her breath. "It's starting to make sense why Cerberus hadn't tried to use magic before."

"The same logic works for why the Alliance doesn't use magic," Kaidan commented. "The cost of finding a way to make it worthwhile is so high that it defeats the point."

"Exactly," I confirmed. "There really isn't anything that magic can't do in theory. You just have to have enough time and money to figure out how."

"What are we talking about?" Shepard asked as she approached the corner of the room where our little group was talking.

"William is telling us why people like Cerberus and the Alliance don't use magic in their operations," Kaidan filled her in. "I'm surprised magic is so…" The man trailed off for a few seconds. "Sorry it's hard to find a word that fits."

"How about consistent?" I suggested. I was fairly sure I knew where he was going with this.

"Yes exactly, consistent. I expected it to be more complicated and confusing."

"It it's not that magic isn't complicated, I assure you it is, the more complex parts of it just don't come into play until you start getting into esoterics," I explained. "I won't even try to explain why esoterics don't shatter every law of physics ever written. Nate probably could, but esoterics are one of his specialties."

"You two have specialties?" Shepard inquired.

"We do. The collective term for people who use magic is practitioner, but many of us that take on other names that help other practitioners get an idea of our general skill sets," I told her. "I'm a Magician. Magicians are very versatile in that we can do a little bit of everything, but we tend to pick a few specific branches of magic to specialize in. Mine are the elemental schools of air and water, as well as spatial manipulation and ritual working. Nathan is what is called a Mystic. Their bread and butter is the more strange forms of magic like, temporal manipulation, metamagic, casting/breaking curses, healing, and the insanely (I mean that literally) complex discipline of magic known as esoterics. You ask him how those work, I won't touch them with a thousand for pole."

The trio were silent for about a minute while they processed all of that information.

"Fair enough," Shepard finally said. "The Justicar is apparently pursuing an investigation in the alley ways, which are Eclipse territory. I'll fill you in on the details on the way let's get going.

(LINE BREAK)

The alleyways on Illium were fairly straight forward, but even if they had been elaborate I have a feeling the people shooting at us would've probably kept us on track.

The people attacking us were only grunts and we took care of them easily enough. I didn't even use magic, just my biotics.

We found the Justicar quickly while she was busy trashing the last of a team of Mercs.

The armored Asari leaped from a room above and glided down to the woman she'd thrown onto the ground floor and landed a few feet from her. Then she calmly put her foot on her neck and said something I was too far away to hear. When I did get close enough to hear her it was after the woman on the ground had responded.

"Than find peace in the embrace-." I recognized the turn of phrase as the first part of a prayer the Asari tell someone before they die, so I gathered up my will and sent it through the air toward the helpless woman.

" _Locus."_

The air around the woman shimmered like the air above hot metal and she disappeared from sight the instant before the Justicar would've broken her neck.

The Justicar began to trip, but she caught her balance with a deft movement of her other foot. Immediately after she was steady on her feet she rolled sideways and flung a torrent of blue biotic power our direction.

In response Kaidan and Miranda launched their own biotic attacks which collided with the Justicar's dissipating the attack.

Shepard drew a pistol with one hand,and a good sized combat knife with the other. Than the woman dashed toward the Asari at speeds I was almost certain were biologically impossible for humans to attain.

She was over halfway to her when the unmistakable feeling of magic danced over my skin and my eyebrows shot up in alarm.

"Shepard she's a practitioner!" I shouted.

In the next instant the commander pivoted left with a spin and then leaped a good five feet away in a graceful backflip.

A tendril of blue white electricity soared from the Asari's hand and struck the ground where Shepard would have been standing if she hadn't dodged the strike.

"You call that magic!" I shouted at the Justicar as I gathered my will. "This is magic!"

" _Gladium Spiritus!"_

The magic took hold of the air and condensed it into the shapes of thirteen razor sharp swords made from solidified air. Once they were fully formed a dozen of them flew towards the Justicar at incredible speeds while the last blade floated beside me invisible.

A flurry of syllables in a language I didn't recognize flew from the Asari's mouth and a burst of white hot fire incinerated the blades before they could harm her.

"So you are the Wizard who saved the mercenary."

I could feel her pulling together the power for a spell, so I followed her example.

"I prefer Magician." Was the best retort I could think of.

I yelled " _Ventum clypeus!"_ At the same time that she pronounced another spell in that alien language.

Another bolt of lightning arched through the air and crashed against the layer of solid air that I had called into being.

That's when I sold the last blade of air to strike.

I'd silently commanded the invisible weapon to skirt around the Justicar, so it was just behind when her spell clashed with my shield. It crashed into her back and she was briefly lifted into the air.

" _Ventus vitae."_ The wind caught the warrior in mid air and held her in place while she struggled against the spell's grip. " _Dormeo."_

I could feel her will press against the second spell, but she didn't have anything close to the psychic resilience that would have been required to repel the incantation.

As her body went limp in the spell's grip I set her down on the ground.

That was when I realized the Miranda, Shepard, and Kaidan were all lying on the ground motionless.

(LINE BREAK)

Well that was fun to write. I think this might just be the best done cliffhanger so far in the story. Anyway if anyone has trouble understanding Will's explanations on how magic works, either PM me, or leave a comment and I would be more than happy to clear things up for you. On another note I'm really liking the positive response I've been getting from people regarding this piece, and I just wanted to express how much I appreciate all of your interest in this story. Have a wonderful day.


	13. Mistakes and New Solutions

People had a strange habit of forgetting about my medical doctorate. Sometimes it was after they found out I was a Psychiatrist, other times it was after they found out about my powers, but either way they still forget that to get my certifications to practice psychiatry I had to pass Med School.

The ABCs of first aid came to mind immediately when I saw Shepard, Kaidan, and Miranda lying unconscious on the ground.

A stands for airway. I rushed over to the nearest of my companions, Miranda, and carefully opened her mouth. It was far too dark for me to see the inside of her Trachea clearly.

" _Lux."_

As I spoke a Latin word for light, and the woman's airway lit up clearly. I couldn't see any obstruction so I moved on to to B, breathing.

It was clear to see that Miranda was breathing fine so I pressed two fingers to her carotid artery and felt her pulse beating strong and steady.

I continued to check her vitals, but I couldn't find anything wrong with her. As a last ditch effort I extended my magical senses towards her aura, and I felt a strange flux in the energy field that surrounded her.

I immersed myself in the beautiful woman's aura. I hadn't done a check up of this depth on another person's aura since I'd stopped practicing, but the sensation of someone else's power in my mind was still very familiar.

I laughed aloud when I found the issue and check the other two for the same problem. After I confirmed that the cause of their conditions was the same I gathered my aura and focused my will on the three.

" _Evigilo."_

At once all of my allies' eyes snapped open and each one of them flew to their feet at full alert.

"What happened?" Asked Shepard to no one in particular.

I cleared my throat and the trio's attention snapped to me with all the focus of a targeting laser.

"That would be my fault actually," I replied. "My aura is stronger than most so when I use sound to carry a spell there's a bit of an echo. I wasn't paying enough attention to where all the magic was going so when I used a stunning spell on the Justicar the rest of you got caught with some of the backlash."

"That can happen?" Miranda asked. She didn't sound angry just curious.

"Not unless you have an aura as powerful as mine, and even then if you focus your will well enough it isn't a problem. I forgot to account for that." I turned to address Shepard. "It won't happen again."

The intimidating redhead held my gaze for a good ten seconds before she let out a breath and shook her head.

"Fucking magic, see that it doesn't. How long will she be out?" She said pointing at the Asari.

I ran some numbers in my head, but in the end I figured I'd play it safe.

"There's no way to know for sure," I told the Commander. "Really it depends on her psychic defenses and sensitivity to magic. I'd say another half hour would be a safe bet."

"Alright then. Everyone grab a limb, let's take her back to the station."

(LINE BREAK)

We were back to the station before 15 minutes had passed. Which was good, because 20 minutes later the Justicar woke up.

I had expected to have to put her out again, but as her eyes flickered open and she saw me I detected a glimmer of respect in her eyes.

"Well fought, Sorcerer," She said. Her voice sounded like most other Asari's voices did at about her age, but the slightly slow and very careful intonation of her words made me feel like I was talking to a woman who was much older than most. Not in physical years, but in wisdom.

She got up from her place on the bench we had set her down on, and began stretching. "It has been a very long time since a human has bested a Justicar in magical combat." She bowed her head lightly. "I am the Justicar Samara, and I apologize for my actions earlier. I was…" She paused like she was having trouble picking out the right word. "Overcome. Yes, that is the word. I was overcome by emotions that had no place in such an encounter. I deeply apologize."

On a hunch I copied the incline of Samara's head.

"I accept your apology Justicar Samara," I said with just as much respect as she had. "I have heard rumors about the magical prowess of your order. I freely admit that I did not think to take them to be true, but nevertheless your personal skill is undeniable. I am honored to have done battle with one such as yourself." Judging by the pleased look on the Justicar's face I'd done good job of balancing the tasks of accepting her apology, protecting her honor, and respecting her order. "But for future reference I go by Magician, not Sorcerer."

That won me a smile from the Asari.

"I will remember that Magician." Samara retorted.

Shepard, on the other hand, looked slightly confused by the exchange, but she hid it well. I only noticed because I'd seen her confused quite a bit in my short time in her company.

She pulled Samara aside and explained our mission. (A process that took about 20 minutes longer than it probably needed to.)

"I would be more than willing to aid you in your mission," Samara said. "But I first must complete my own mission."

"Would it be rude of us to ask what your mission is?" Shepard asked

"I am tracking a dangerous fugitive. She was recently smuggled off planet on a cargo ship by the Eclipse sisters. I was searching for the name of that ship."

"Can you help us if you find the name?" I inquired. "Or perhaps the fugitive?"

The Justicar raised a single eyebrow.

"She is a skilled Sorceress in her own right. Tracking spells aren't likely to succeed."

"Maybe not, but a Sorceress, Magician, Mystic, and a Healer working together should be more than capable of getting through a few wards. Especially with a ritual working."

The Asari visibly considered the idea. I could almost see the wheels turning in her head.

"I would be willing to attempt such a ritual. I believe blood of the mother should be a potent enough focus for the spell?"

"If it isn't than it won't matter if we have a thousand practitioners working the spell, she's not going to be found. Shepard we'll need to be on the Normandy to pull this off do you mind if I take us there?"

"No you're fine," Shepard said with her head once again in her hand. "I'm never going to get rid of this migraine am I?"

For a split second I considered making a smart ass remark, but I decided against it.

"You can borrow some of my meds if you'd like Commander, but I don't think I have enough."

Kaidan was, apparently, a braver man than I.

"Alenko you can just-."

" _Domum."_

Space churned and contorted unnaturally as the world around us shifted to the point of being unrecognizable until reality clicked back into place leaving us on the Normandy.

Whatever Shepard had been about to say must have gotten scrambled by the spell because the last few words of the sentence came out as an incomprehensible mess of sounds.

"I need to see if Karin has any of the supplies I need for the ritual." I quipped as a took off for the Med Bay.

"I'll go help him!" Kaidan added and if the sounds of his heart beating and footsteps were any indicator, he was running to catch up with me.

I took a mental double take at that thought and nearly fell on my face. I was a good twenty feet away from Kaidan when I noticed the change in his heartbeat. It was no surprise that my hearing was getting better, using magic had always enhanced my senses, what concerned me was that my hearing had gotten as good as it was in so little time.

When I'd first started practicing it had taken several weeks of wielding magic for my senses to get good enough to hear the ticking of a clock through a wall, and it had taken months to pick out a person's heartbeat. If the changes kept occurring at this rate I was going to have a problem on my hands way sooner than I was expecting.

"Hey are you alright?" Kaidan asked. I was starting to get sick of that question. I appreciated the concern, but it was starting to get old.

"For now I'll be fine," I answered with a brief smile. "Those changes I told you about this morning are just happening faster than I thought. It just caught me off guard."

"Oh okay then," The soldier was quiet for an awkward twenty seconds. "Sooo." He drug out the word in a way that was hard to ignore. " What exactly is a ritual?"

I chuckled under my breath. "What?" Kaidan said with a hint of exacerbation.

"Nothing, it's nothing. I just find it endearing." I said though my amusement.

Kaidan's face turned in confusion.

"What's endearing?"

"The curiosity." Kaidan stared blankly at me his confusion still evident. "You do realize that you haven't stopped asking questions about magic since you learned that it exists?"

The biotic's face turned slightly red with embarrassment.

"Well um… I mean… well yeah," He stumbled over the words. "It's interesting."

I set a hand in the shoulder of his blue combat armor.

"Really it's okay. I have absolutely no problem answering any questions that you have. Like I said, it's endearing." I paused for a beat. "But anyway. A ritual is kind of like a spell, only it's a lot more formal. Most of the time all a practitioner needs to work magic is a source of power to fuel the effect, and the will to make it do what they want. Some practitioners like to use an item, called a focus, or a small animal, called a familiar, to make the process a bit easier, but typical nothing more than that. In a ritual you prepare an elaborate ceremony in order to cast a particularly complex, or powerful, spell." I hung a left and headed down the stairs to the crew deck. "Another time you would use a ritual is of you wanted to work a particularly difficult spell. You see some magic requires more work than other magic, A summoning for example. Often spells like that are just to complicated for a single practitioner to cast, and the way rituals direct and focus magical energy in such a predictable fashion makes them ideal for group magic, which is incredible difficult without help. As a result rituals are a great way to work magic that would normally be beyond the abilities of a practitioner."

I concluded my lecture as we came to the door of the Med Bay and we entered the pristine room.

"Hey Karin do you have any ritual supplies lying around?"

The aged woman arched a brow, but she pointed at a cabinet beside her desk anyway.

"Might I ask what kind of ritual you want me to help you with?"

"I haven't asked for your help yet."

Karin shot me a look that made me feel like I was 13 years old again, and wearing a dunce cap in the corner.

"Honestly William, do you think I'm an idiot?"

I rolled my eyes at her, and failed to suppress a grin.

"A tracking spell. One potent enough to pierce the counterspells of a skilled Sorceress."

She tapped a finger on her chin thoughtfully.

"In that case use powdered silver instead of magnetized flakes of pure iron. It will give us an edge against warding magics. You might also consider substituting the usual copper bowl for a pure iron one engraved with empowered runes of divination, precision, and order. Oh yes and fill it with a solution of equal parts pure liquid silver and mercury, instead of filtered spring water." I scanned my memory for the magical properties of those last components.

"To throw off counterspells and prevent the Sorceress from using our spell to track us right?"

"Yes, though I don't expect a Sorceress to pull off a ritual esoteric such as a tracking spell on her own. Especially not through our wards, but I'll take some time to augment them just in case." She turned the swiveling chair away from me and whispered something under her breath far to quietly to be heard by normal ears.

Just not quietly enough to evade my senses. "I'll need to ask Nathan to help me set a spell to collect the residual power from all of this magic…"

"Or I could help you with that," I commented. "It wouldn't be so difficult, I could give you a lot more to work with than Nate can."

I saw Kaidan's head tilt curiously to the side, and Karin spun in her chair in a moment of surprise.

"How did you-" She began, but then her head caught up with her mouth and her eyes flew wide open in sudden alarm. "Oh no. It's that far along already?" I nodded silently in reply. "That is very concerning. The next stage is enhanced reflexes right? That hasn't started too has it?"

"No Karin it hasn't, but I don't think it's going to take long. Either way there's no point in worrying about it. Let's just take this one step at a time." I rested a hand on her shoulder to assuage her concern. I felt the tense muscle of the joint relax under my touch as she let out a deep breath.

"You're right," She admitted. "I'll prepare myself for the ritual. The best place on the ship for something like this will be the conference room." With that the woman turned around in her chair and rested her head in her hand.

I gestured for Kaidan to follow me out as I exited the room. I knew that the doctor prefered to be left alone at times like this.

Kaidan followed behind me silently with his arms full of ritual components. His expression wasn't uniquely noteworthy, but his dark eyes swam with thoughts and questions that were so plain to see that I wondered how hard it was for him to keep a secret.

The conference room was just as we left it. The large table in the middle was the perfect size for a ritual circle, and the nature of the room was excellent for this kind of magic.

"So would you mind walking me through all of this?" Kaidan asked while he set up the engraved iron bowl in the center of the circle 9f powdered silver.

"Sure what do you want to know?" I replied as I used a quick incantation to melt down the silver we would need to fill the bowl with.

"Why a circle?"

"Well…" I began after taking a second to get my lore straight. It'd been a long time since I discussed the fundamentals of ritual magic with someone. "Magic is full of symbolism. That's why spells work best when they are poetically appropriate for the situation that they're used in. Circles are symbols of balance, containment, protection, and isolation. In a nutshell that means that when you empower a circle with magic you separate the inside of it from outside influence, contain magical energies inside of the circle, and balance whatever energies are already present in the circle." Kaidan nodded along while I mixed the liquid silver with the mercury. "Since rituals are basically just extremely complicated spells the circle creates an environment where the practitioners casting the ritual can work in peace."

"Interesting," Kaidan said somewhat absent mindedly. "So I assume the rest of this stuff is symbolic too? And that symbolism makes the spell either easier or more effective?" I found myself smiling in something resembling pride at Kaidan's conclusions.

"Exactly," I confirmed. "The components of the ritual take some of the hardest of the work off of the casters, and help to augment the spell in ways that would normally requires hours of preparation to accomplish. It's basically a very popular mystical shortcut."

By this point the silver and mercury solution had been poured into the iron bowl and the circle hand been laid out as perfectly as I could manage. The most geometrically perfect the circle was the more effective it would be.

I stepped back to observe our handiwork and nodded to myself pleased. "This looks pretty good. Now all we need is Karin, Nate, and Samara and we'll have this fugitive sorceress tracked down in no time."

"Should I go get them?" Kaidan asked pointing his thumb back into the hall behind us.

I considered the idea for a moment before responding.

"No. The spell will be just as effective tomorrow as it would be today. It'll be better if Samara and I take some time to rest and recuperate from our duel."

"Alright then. So… what now?" He said scratching the back of his head nervously.

"I guess I have the day to myself."

It felt weird to say that. I hadn't had this much time to myself since I stopped practicing, and I wasn't really sure what to do with myself. Back then I would've spent the time in training, but that wasn't an option nowadays unless I wanted to risk progressing the change any further along than it already was.

I supposed I could make sure I'm up to date on recent advances in medicine, but if I was being honest spending three day cooped up in my room reading didn't sound all that enticing either.

"Do you have any plans?" Kaidan asked. His question pulled me out of the stupor I was in.

"No not really," I admitted. I detected an unexpected hint of shame in my voice that raised a few mental questions that I felt needed to be looked into, but the patient, yet inquisitive, gaze of the lieutenant convinced me to file those concerns away for later. "I don't have many hobbies that aren't either work related, or magic related." The only skills I'd enter picked up purely for the sake of leisure required tools that, as far as I knew, simply weren't available to me at the moment.

"Well I was just going to get some practice with my sidearm in and chat with some old friends for the rest of the day, but you're more than welcome to tag along if you'd like." The soldier spoke in a ever so slightly awkward tone that I probably wouldn't have even noticed if it hadn't been for my enhanced senses. Still I really didn't have anything else to do ,and although the shooting practice was a disaster waiting to happen if he tried to put a gun in my hand, Kaidan's offer sound appealing nonetheless.

"If you don't mind having the galaxy's most incompetent shot watch you practice than I'll be more than happy to take you up on that offer."

(CHAPTER END)

I hope you all enjoyed this one. I'm so sorry that it took so long to get this out, but I spent a ton of time writing and rewriting this chapter because it's a much more narrative chapter that spends a lot more time in Will's head than most of the others. That's mostly because I'm still trying to flesh out his personality, and establish how he views the world.

It has been brought to my attention by a reviewer (I would give them a shoutout but I would rather not give names without getting permission first.) that this story could very easily become vulnerable to a number of common, mostly negative, tropes and I wanted to address those concerns. The first, and most dangerous, of those tropes is the Mary Sue trope. This is actually one that I've been thinking about on my own time regarding Will's character. The largest risk of centering the plot of this story around an Original Character is that he doesn't come with any requirement for any kind of weaknesses to limit his character, and the presence of magic could lead to William becoming what could amount to a Deus Ex Machina in character form. I am working tirelessly to avoid falling into this trap, but at this point in the story I've been trying to give you readers a solid idea of how magic works and what William is ultimately capable of. I promise that William is flawed, significantly even, but I also recognize that those flaws could be hard to spot if you don't know what to look for so I'm hoping to clear that up right now. Firstly Will's largest character flaw is what I like to call D&D Wizard Syndrome, or an utter reliance on magic. When given the choice he will nearly always use magic to solve a problem (Or by extension biotics) just because he feels it is the best possible way to resolve any problem. Second Will constantly overestimates what he can handle and has a habit of charging in headfirst without much of a plan to fall back on. And lastly his changing biology as a result of using magic a lot is arguably his most dangerous trait. While it does offer a large number of physical enhancements, his change also comes with a slew of far more subtle alterations to his character that prove much more crippling than any of these fatal flaws. As always have a great day and I will see you all later.


	14. Downtime

I hadn't known that the Normandy had a firing range, but I knew I shouldn't have been half as surprised as I was to discover the fact. After all with so many marksmen on the team.

The room was larger than most of the others on the ship and it was equipped with what looked like a slew of different reinforced targets that marked where the shooter hit them by changing from the typical steel gray of metal to a bright red splash that was dark towards the center and got brighter as it expanded from the point of impact.

"The metal has been prepared by this chemical treatment them makes it more reactive to heat and friction," Kaidan explained to me after he saw my curious expression when his thermal rounds impacted the humanoid targets. "The Alliance uses the same thing to train greenies on Earth. I get the impression that it's crazy expensive. Cerberus must have some ridiculously rich backers."

As it turns out Kaidan gets talkative when he's practicing.

"Kinda makes you wonder," I said watching the soldier put away round after round into the targets. He was a good shot. Not one round missed a target, and most of them struck vital points. "I'm not exactly up to date on the galactic political scene, but how many people could possibly have so much capital that they can afford to fund things like this."

Kaidan fired three quick shots into three separate dummies on opposing sides of the range. The one on the far left got hit in the neck and the far right and back of the room sustained wounds to the eye and heart respectively.

"What's more impressive is how well they hide it," Replied Kaidan. "Since the Alliance confirmed that Cerberus is being privately funded we started keeping an eye on the purchasing habits of the high and mighty." He reloaded the handgun fast enough that I didn't notice he had popped in another clip until after he'd fired three more shots. "The idea was that if anyone's spending habits changed too dramatically we could dig a little deeper and pick out Cerberus's financial support."

"You figured that if you swept out Cerberus's funding out from under them they would fall apart." It wasn't too tricky to pinpoint what the Alliance was going for using tactics like that.

"Exactly, but it didn't work. Hell we could barely find a couple of their backers, much less a majority of them." I could hear annoyance in the Lieutenant's voice.

"I doubt the Alliance expected much more success than they had. It would have been foolish to assume an approach like that would serve as a long term solution. Cerberus is way too well established for money problems to destabilize them." It bothered me that I could hear the safety on Kaidan's gun flip on. It would be a while before I got used to having senses so sharp again.

"Fair enough," Kaidan said as he slipped the pistol into its holster. "Strategy isn't one of my strong suits. That's more Shepard's area." The man turned to face me. "Are you ready to head over to the rec room?" I nodded swiftly and followed him out the door.

(LINE BREAK)

The walk to the Rec Room was very pleasant in Kaidan's company. It was really nice to just make small talk with someone.

The Rec Room itself had Cerberus's hands written all over it. The room was sizable, but more subdued than I expected it to be. I had anticipated there being all of the latest in entertainment technology. In a delightful subversion of my expectations the room was rather homely. It had been furnished with comfortable looking chairs made from what appeared to be real leather, a couple of couches, and a few tables. A large pool table sat on one side of the room next to a card table. On the other side of the room were a couple of TVs. Karin, Garrus, and a number of people I didn't recognize were all lounging around on the chairs and couches. They looked to be having a good time all around.

"Hey Lieutenant!" Said one of the people I didn't recognize. He was a caucasian human male and he was sitting ever so slightly oddly on his loveseat. "Glad you could make it. Chakwas was just gearing up to tell us one of her awesome stories."

I quirked my brow at Karin.

"One of your stories about your assignments over the years?" I asked curiously.

"Yes of course William, Now sit down and don't interrupt me." Karin said in the voice she only used when she really wanted to get on with a story she was excited about telling.

I took a seat between Kaidan and the man who was sitting oddly and listened intently to Karin's story.

It ended up being one that I'd heard her tell a hundred time before about the she was stationed on a frigate with an all male crew. Despite knowing the tale by heart I still laughed with everyone else at the hijinks that ensued.

"So Doctor," Said the oddly sitting man. "You're the one that says he can blow stuff up with his mind right?"

Kaidan reached over the couch behind me and lightly slapped the man's shoulder.

"Joker don't be rude." While the words were serious Kaidan's tone implied that he was just teasing 'Joker'.

I laughed audibly at the brief exchange, but regained my composure quickly.

"It's fine Soldier-boy I've heard worse," I quipped at Kaidan before I turned my attention to the aptly named Joker. "That's me alright, although I never made that claim."

He waved his hand dismissively.

"Either way you get the point." He stared at me expectantly for about five seconds before it hit me that he wanted a demonstration.

I rolled my eyes and turned my focus on an area in the center of the congregation.

" _Imago Colorata Venti."_

I infused the words of the very simple spell with nothing more than a touch of power and a swirl of colors appeared in the vacant space.

Joker looked disappointed.

"Aw come one," He taunted. "Is that the best you can do?"

I would've answered the challenge, but my focus was still on the spell. Luckily Karin spoke for me.

"Be patient," She said without taking her eyes off the colorful whirlwind. "William isn't done yet."

I seized the mystical energies with my mind and made the preparations that were necessary to alter an active spell.

" _Ostendit qoud imago est recens memoria."_

The ancient words rolled off my tongue and took hold of the colored air. The magic rearranged the colors into a perfect replica of the duel that had taken place earlier that day between Samara and myself.

I openly smirked in satisfaction as Joker's jaw fell open at the sight of the incredible spectacle. I held the spell together until the end of the memory. Than I let the fragile magic unravel itself and fade away.

"Never judge a spell until it is done." I said sagely to the amazed man. No one but me and Karin needed to know that I was quoting one of Karin's friends.

"Damn Doc," Said Garrus. "That looked like one hell of a fight. How do you even approach a battle where the bad guy could do literally anything at the drop of a hat?"

"The trick is to keep moving," I replied. "Samara was slinging a lot of lightning around which is fine if your target has the courtesy to stay still, but since lightning moves so quickly hitting a moving target, particularly someone as experienced as me in these sorts of duels, requires incomparable spatial awareness and nearly microscopic accuracy." I explained. "That's why I like air magic. When it's done right air magic strikes just as quickly and can be much easier to control, though it is admittedly not quite as flashy as a bolt of lightning which is why most practitioners don't specialize in the use of combative air magic. Or combative water magic for that matter. They just don't carry the same pizzazz that fire and lightning do."

"What use is the air in a fight?" Retorted Joker. "What are you gonna do? Catch them by surprise with a gentle spring breeze?"

I feigned an expression of someone struggling to choose what they were going to do next. I winked at Karin when no one was looking. Silently conveying to her what I was planning to do next. I took the barely perceptible incline of her head as permission.

" _Aer."_

I flicked my hand toward the huge pool table and the resulting torrent of wind lifted the table into the air and slammed it into the far wall with enough force to break the reinforced steel table to pieces.

The room went silent as Karin and I shared a look of amusement. "To answer your question Joker," I said addressing the man. "That is what I would do. Much more impressive than a spring breeze don't you think?" Joker rolled his eyes, but he failed to hide the faint flush of embarrassment that briefly colored his features.

"Fine, fine. You win air magic is awesome blah, blah, blah."

I smirked at him for good measure.

"Karin could you please fix the table? The last time I tried that spell the end result was… ugly."

Karin laughed openly before she replied. She was there the last time I tried that spell so I didn't need to go into details. Much to my relief

" _Sarcio."_ Karin incanted, and the many pieces of the broken table flew together and reattached themselves where they belonged leaving behind a pool table in pristine condition. "It should be said that if William had hit a person with that spell they would've died before they even hit the wall."

Joker rolled his eyes again, but Kaidan snickered under his breath almost too quietly for me to hear.

Garrus on the other hand looked more curious than anything else.

"So," The Turian began with no more than hint of hesitation evident in his voice. "Can anyone learn how to do stuff like that?"

I walked to one of the couches and sat down. Kaidan followed me there and sat down just beside me.

"That's a more complicated question than you realize," I told him. "Generally speaking yes almost anyone with the proper training can learn to perform magic. Not everyone; however, can pull off something like what I just did as easily as I can. I've got a lot more power than most people. Karrin says it's a side effect of having a silver aura." I looked to her for confirmation and she gave me a brief nod.

"So auras are a real thing?" Joker asked with disbelief tainting his voice.

I took the time to give Joker and Garrus the full rundown on the fundamentals of magic and auras.

"Sounds useful." Garrus commented. I didn't like the note of interest that was present in the Turian's body language. I was pretty sure I knew where he was planning to take the conversation.

"I won't teach you," I said preempting his intentions. "I'm an awful teacher, and even if I wasn't there would be no point. It takes years to even get to the point of being able to see auras, much less manipulating them."

Garrus looked like he was about to protest when he stopped and his eyes darted away from me.

I shot him a confused look, and I'd been about to ask him about what had happened when I heard the door open and Shepard walked in.

She sat down in a lounge chair and glaced curiously at the pool table.

"Did someone move the pool table?"

(END CHAPTER)

I am really sorry that it took so long for this chapter to go up, but I got caught up in another project and needed some time away from writing.


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